[Vnbiz] Doing politics in the Vietnamese spirit -editing

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear sis Huong & CACC,

Thanks for an excellent exposition of the issue, Huong.  I agree
wholeheartedly.

Great day, sister.

Hoanh


On 6/8/07, huong luong <huongluongdc at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
> sorry for some typo/ mispelling in my last email...hopefully CACC can
> guess the meaning
>
> e.g:
> "...prawn of the cold war..." meant to be " pawn of the cold war..." e.t.c:))
>
> peace,
> H
>
> *huong luong <huongluongdc at yahoo.com>* wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
> anh Hoanh and others,
>
> I don't know why anh Hoanh has an impression that the Vietnamese is
> worshiping the White "fathers"...in politics and in other aspects...who is
> the "white fathers" here and why we call them "fathers"....Looking back
> Vietnam's history, the French and the American are not the only ones to try
> to mess up our country, but the Chinese...the inevitable, the long-standing,
> the back-stabbing "brother" that we are unfortunate to be next door, the one
> has invaded VN longest, in every single century whom we have a war with. But
> we still have to play along with Chinese politics.
>
> I truly believe that Vietnam has always had its own spirit that has
> triumped in the past wars with any external invaders. I don't buy the fact
> that Vietnam is losing its spirit in international politics....I just think
> our leaders, or younger politicians become more sophisticated in
> international politics, learning how to play the game to avoid unnecessary
> mistakes that might cost the country a great deal (we could avoid the war
> with the American if we were not a prawn of the cold war game b/t the
> US-Soviet, we could have reconstructed the country faster to compete with
> SEA neighbors if we were not bogged down with the invasion of Cambodia due
> to the ideology of Marcist-leninist expansion led by Soviet - a decade of
> war with the U.S, another decade of war with the rest of world thru the
> isolation politically and economically, that has set VN back 20 years behind
> its SEA neighbors).
>
> Conflict is avoidable, but not impossible.  Good politicians are the ones
> to can take away all potential threats and conflicts for the country and the
> World.  There's new way to love your country now not only by fighting for it
> with your blood, but with your brain.
>
> I think Competition is no way a friendly game, but could be a healthy
> game. Competition is a way to make things better and more efficient. If law
> and orders are established in VN, healthy competition is very possible.
>
> I consider VN is a place where religious freedom does exist at grassroot
> level. VN is a country free of ethnic and religious conflicts to a large
> extent.  I can see a Buddhist can walk in a catholic church in HN to
> celebrate X-mas Eve. I don't see people fight against each other because of
> their religious differences in VN ever.  The religion only becomes an issue
> when people mix religion with politics....i prefer to keep them separate.
> There has been some crack down of religious leaders because they use
> religion as a political tool, not because of their embrace/practice of their
> religions.  the way I view religion as a way to make all human being become
> a better person, a place for people to rest their personal faith and peace
> on....we should not use it as a weapon.  If a religious conflict does
> happen, blood will follow (see the Islam vs. Christianity, Jewish vs. Islam)
>
> Democracy should come from within. It will happen in the country if its
> people really want it (it did happen in Indonesia in 1998). Do you think a
> fully-democratic system will work in VN efficiently now where people have a
> little concept of democracy and how to make democracy work for them? Give it
> some times, and the Vietnamese will figure out if they want democracy or
> not, and will figure out a model of democracy they want to establish, and
> they will fight for it once they are ready as they did fight for the
> independence decades ago. Any immature democracy will create further mess /
> instability in the country, in turn, which will undermine all development
> opportunities we are having right now (look at our democratic neighbor
> Thailand...and if you study all SEAs, you will see that those countries keep
> swinging back and force b/t democratic and authoritarian regimes...and they
> seems to develop better under the latter). Any western-liked model of
> democracy might not work in Vietnam, and Asia-wide.
>
> Democracy is a gradual process. It should be built on the foundation of
> well-established rule of laws, checks and balances that are missing in
> Vietnam right now (don't argue with me that checks and balances only exist
> in democratic nations...look at Singapore). Otherwise, it might be a source
> of domestic instability and conflicts. It can't happen overnight because its
> people need to learn to appreciate democracy first, and act in the name of
> democracy.  If the Vietnamese learn how to take voting obligation more
> serious, being concerned more about the Government policies that might
> affect their life in a bigger way rather than worrying about their own
> little benefits, political process in Vietnam will improve as more quality
> leaders come in power.
> Of course, it is naive to expect power elites to change for democracy
> because it is human nature: the love for power. They will hold a strong grip
> on power as long as they can.
>
> I view democracy is a luxury good.  People can't achieve it unless they
> are provided with all basic goods first (decent income per capita,
> social welfare, education are fundamental needs). Then, they might be ready
> for something better and perceive democracy differently (e.g democracy vs.
> populism; democracy vs. patron-client relations).
>
> We can't sit there and blame superpowers or realists in international
> relations. It is the nature and the principle of int' politics: every
> country is working for their national interests and security. We are not
> different if we would have the same level of economic and military
> power....we would act exactly like them. And international politics today is
> more complex than decades ago: it is a mix of realism and constructivism.
> The best policy might be to put our brains at work to have an optimal
> foreign policy that will benefit the country in term of economy and
> security.
>
> Therefore, I donÂÂÂ't think younger Vietnamese politicians compromise
> the countryÂÂÂ's interests and independence in international arena. I
> see Vietnam is one of fearless nations in spirit, but full of hospitability.
> Maybe that is ÂÂÂ"VietnamÂÂÂ's charmÂÂÂ" that makes many
> foreigners feel good/welcomed when they visit VN, not the fear as anh Hoanh
> mentioned. And remember that Vietnam has no history of a slave country or
> being slaved.  We were occupied for centuries, but we have our own
> glorious history, heritage and culture. Then, slave mentality does NOT exist
> in the way the Vietnamese behave or live their lives. Plus, Asian culture in
> general is a high-context culture, mean avoid any direct confrontation, but
> does not mean compromising.
>   Just share with CACC some thoughts. DonÂÂÂ't grill me please J
>
> Peace,
> Huong
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> Washington DC
>
>
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