[Vnbiz] Building the Vietnamese Intelligentsia--Intellectuals and Entrepreneurs

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear CACC,

The late historian Tran Khac Vien (I love him) said in his now famous quote:
"Vietnam has intellectuals but no intelligentsia."  How do you think about
that comment?

Have a great day!

Hoanh

On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 3:18 AM, <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov> wrote:

> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
> Dear anh Hoanh,
> This is not the same as the call to build an intelligentsia as the old
> writings you read about that was produced in the first half of the 20th
> century in Vietnam.  More accurate, this is a call to build up a
> technocratic class with specific technical expertise in business.  This is
> simply a call to train more MBAs.
> Vietnam has always had intellectuals, with great historical ones such as
> Nguyen Truong To, Phan Chu Trinh, Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, Bui thi Xuan, Nguyen
> Trai, Nguyen Du, Doan thi Diem (not in any order).  But, not counting the
> "intelligentsia" in the feudal courts,  Vietnam only had a nascent such
> group that came together in the latter part of colonial French rule, but was
> pretty much wiped out by the time of Nhan Van - Giai Pham in the late
> 50's.  South Vietnam's two decades plus of existence hosted the renmants of
> the northern refugee intelligentsia along with its own home grown for a few
> short years of feverish, war-distorted development before being stunted
> domestically or scattered to the four corners of the globe in 1975.  Until
> "intelligentsia" no longer required the qualifier "patriotic" in Vietnam's
> political lingo, calls for the development of a local intelligentsia is
> either superfluous or insincere.
>
> While the first steps toward building a private economy is to just let it
> grow, sustained market economy is no piece of cake.  An entire appropriated
> legal framework has to be developed and implementing regulations have to be
> put in place to handle not just the economic, but as attendant social and
> political changes.  Unbriddled capitalism inevitably leads to negative
> things like the "com tu" problem you've observed.  But, just to put things
> into perspective, if such a restaurant existed 20 years ago, even with the
> food and service quality of a state-owned establishment, passengers would
> have considered it a blessing.
>
> Building an intelligentsia is not the business of the government, unless
> you want a state-owned intelligensia.  If intellectuals need government's
> encouragement to think, speak and write freely, the nation is in deeper
> trouble than we can imagine.  The government should encourage/support
> education, protect the people's rights to think, speak and write, and not
> persecute intellectuals who do not agree.
>
> It is wrong to attribute lack of public discourse to culture, unless you
> chose to ignore traditional culture and focus only on contemporary culture
> which is heavily and directly influence by the regime.  There is little
> space for public discourse and only one voice addressing all major issues,
> that of the regime.
>
> Depending on where you are and what you say, speaking out in public may
> mean that your spouse will spend all her time and energy supporting
> you while you're on an extended involuntary vacation, and your friends will
> get numerous requests to meet with the local public secutity office.
> Cheers,
> HPP
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
> Washington DC
>
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