[Vnbiz] [Leadership] Focusing on your positives

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear sis. Thu Huong & CACC,

Thanks for the note, Thu Huong.

Thu Huong asks: "In case of Vietnam, what do you think that we have, we
think positively in that and we engage in activity most effectively?"

"What we have" is easy.  Just turn around a look.  We have beautiful beaches
running the length of the nation; we have beautiful mountains and highlands;
we have a good mix of religions--Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Cao
Dao, Hoa Hai, etc.  with attractive churches and temples; we have a long
history with many historical landmarks (Ho Guom, Quoc Tu Giam, Den Hung,
Lang Ong, etc.); we have many ethnic groups with different cultures,
clothes, houses; we have good food -- Vietnamese cooking is very high on the
world's chart (many years ago a food critic of The New York Times rated
Vietnamese food 4th in the world, after French, Chinese and Italian).

All these are very good for tourism.   We can focus on these things to
develop tourism--i.e., making it easier for tourists to come in; organizing
"tourist information centers" in each city to pass out info to
tourists; helping the hospitality industry (restaurants, hotels, tour
companies) do their work with more coordination, discipline and quality;
making the streets more friendly to tourists (like public rest rooms and
police); fighting the crime-ridden industries so that they don't scare
tourists off--sex and drugs; helping religions and cultural organizations to
grow (so that they will build big and attractive temples.  Beautiful temples
attract tourists);  helping cultural organizations to bring in visitors --
Zen is now a worldwide attraction.  If Zen centers are open in Vietnam for
foreigners, many will come to learn Zen.  Vietnam is a martial arts
country--why not using martial arts to attract tourists and students
(Thailand uses its martial arts presentation in performance centers).  Of
course, the history or US-VN war is good education for tourists; so are
war-related historical landmarks.

We have lots of things very attractive to tourists.  All we need to do is a
little planning to make them FEEL attractive, and stay away from pushing for
crime-ridden industries -- sex, casinos,nightclub.  Good, clean dancing
clubs are good for tourism.  But clubs that thrive on sex, drugs and
overdosed booze are bad for tourism, because they generate so many criminals
on the streets.

All we need is putting more brain power into tourism, not necessarily more
money.

The above is a quick example on tourism.  Another example is that we have an
extremely young and highly literate population. This is an incredibly strong
asset, because many countries in the West are becoming too old, with more
old people than young people.  In these countries, too few young people have
to work to feed many retirees.  Vietnam can focus on building this young
population for the world market--focus on English, Internet, IT skills,
communication skills, analytical and critical thinking.  Very soon this
young population will stay in Vietnam and do work (over the
Internet) for domestic or multinational companies serving customers in New
York, Toronto, Paris or any other major city of the world.

I can go on and on for another 200 pages but I won't have time to do that.
I hope that these two examples are sufficient to present the idea.  Thanks
again, Thu Huong, for such a wonderful question.

Have a great day!

Hoanh

On 10/25/07, huong dang thu <hdangthu at gmail.com > wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
> Dear bro and sis,
>
>
>
> Thanks anh Hoanh, your explanation is very persuasive and deep. I am
> especially fond of the idea of "perseverance to protect our independence".
> Brilliant! But I have to use more time to absorb that idea.
>
>
>
> BTW, to talk a bit about the '-ism'. In Vietnam, where the official theory
> is Marxism, though now people recognize that we should be more opened to
> learn the new ideas all around the world, most of my teachers in school
> think this way: Marxism is not wrong at all. The wrong point here is that
> people use the theory (the tool) in the wrong way.
>
> Compare with Buddhism, Catholicism, we usually say that: the teaching of
> Buddha or Jesus are not wrong. The only wrong here is the application of
> human.
>
> The thinking of "the theory is not wrong. It's wrong for human" make us
> very persist in the old theory. Like my grandparents, who were the soldiers
> in the war, have a strong belief in Marxism theory. Like my grandparents, I
> think a part of nowadays Vietnamese really do believe!
>
> So, the people can think that Marxism, Uncle Ho teaching and VCP leading
> are our country's positives.
>
> Anyway, based on what we have achieved today, I think we might go much
> further. Thus, our positives may lie in other points. So, come back to the
> question "what is our positive?', I feel excited about bro Hoanh's message
> "Everything you have is your strength if (1) you think positively that it is
> your strength and (2) you engage in activity where your strength can be most
> effective". It's a very strong idea. Anyway, I'm still so young. My
> experience is definitely limited. In case of Vietnam, what do you think that
> we have, we think positively in that and we engage in activity most
> effectively?
>
> Just a question if bro and sis have interest in sharing...!
>
> Thanks!
> Wish my bro and sis wealth!
> HeO
>
-- 
Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
Washington DC
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