About 20 years ago, I helped create a video entitled Vietnam Today for the In FOCUS: Vietnam project funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It was part of a series designed to serve as a pre-departure orientation tool for students who participated in the Hobart and William Smith Colleges study abroad program in Hanoi. A secondary use was for educators or anyone interested in Vietnam. Here’s the project description courtesy of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Unfortunately, the project videos are no longer available.

CGE launches new educational resource on Vietnam

By Hobart and William Smith Colleges on March 8th, 2007

With input from some of the country’s top experts and a range of dazzling multimedia resources, the newly launched “In FOCUS: Vietnam program website is a treat for students and educators alike.

The 12 short films that comprise the project are designed to introduce viewers to the complexities of Vietnamese culture and society, including an “Historical Overview of Vietnam, “Exploring Vietnam: A Woman’s Journey, “The Art of Vietnam, “Vietnam Today and many others.

A variety of experts wrote and contributed to the films, including HWS faculty members Lowell Bloss, Marie-France Etienne, Catherine Gallouët, Jack Harris, Jo Beth Mertens and Jim Spates. Other contributors include former U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Raymond Burghardt, Gwynne Decker ’04, renowned ethnomusicologist Phong Nguyen, author Mark Ashwill, Union College professor Eshi Motahar, and internationally acclaimed artist C. David Thomas. All films were produced by the CGE.

The script is below, and here’s a link to the video on my YouTube account. Pardon the quality; it’s the only version I have.

Peace, MAA

(0:35) Vietnam is an intriguing and harmonious blend of the ancient and the modern, symbols of (0:41) war and suffering, neighbors to monuments of the new market economy. (0:46) Stroll through Lenin Park, yes that Lenin, in distinctly capitalist Hanoi for a retreat (0:52) from the never-ending stream of traffic and see for yourself what urban Vietnamese do (0:56) for recreation, health, and relationship building. (1:02)

Or visit Hoa Lo Prison, better known to the rest of the world as the Hanoi Hilton, built (1:07) by the French in the late 19th century to imprison Vietnamese and later used by the (1:13) Vietnamese to hold U.S. prisoners of war, one of whom would later become a U.S. senator (1:18) and another the first U.S. ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (1:26) Most of the prison was demolished to make way for an office building, a luxury hotel, (1:32) apartments, and upscale shops during Hanoi’s building boom of the late 1990s. (1:37)

Next you can sit across the street in a popular internet cafe, a sign of the times, side by (1:43) side with young Vietnamese, cold drink in hand, exchanging emails with friends around (1:48) the world, chatting online, conducting business or searching for scholarship opportunities (1:54) that might allow them to fulfill their dream of study abroad. (1:58)

Stroll around Hanoi on a sultry summer evening and experience a celebration of life, horns (2:04) honking, motorbikes flowing like water around pedestrians at breakneck speed, lovers sitting (2:10) on park benches wrapping each other’s arms, older people exercising, children playing (2:16) badminton, vendors plying their trade, the wars and colonial violence that beset this (2:21) country for so many generations, a distant and fading memory. (2:27)

The Vietnam of today is full of promise and potential, pulsating with energy and steeped (2:33) in dreams. (2:34) At the same time, Vietnam has entered the 21st century faced with a range of pressing (2:39) political, social and economic problems, some the result of bad policies, mismanagement (2:46) and ideological rigidity, others the legacy of colonialism, war and subsequent attempts (2:52) to punish the country for political reasons. (2:59)

Your first walk across the street in any major city will be a test of your ability to keep (3:04) your wits about you, to be aware of everyone and everything around you and to reach the (3:09) other side safely by walking in measured steps and at a steady pace, allowing, trusting drivers (3:16) to glide around you, in effect putting your health and possibly your life in their hands. (3:22)

Walking around you soon discover that very few aspects of the physical environment are (3:26) uniform and predictable as in most wealthy countries. (3:30) Beware of the holes, wires not adjusted to the height of the average westerner, unexpected (3:36) steps and other idiosyncrasies that reflect uneven development and progress on both literal (3:42) and figurative levels. (3:43) For example, though Hanoi now has stoplights, human beings still lower the gate before an (3:49) approaching train. (3:53)

The Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City of today bear little resemblance to their former selves (3:58) in the immediate post-war period. (4:00) As recently as the early 1990s, both cities were described as sleepy towns. (4:06) Those were the days when Vietnam was just beginning to reform its economy and open up (4:11) to the rest of the world. (4:12) It was before the presence of disposable income that enables people to purchase motorbikes, (4:18) cars, cell phones and fashionable clothes, or to go out for a night on the town. (4:23) Before the appearance of foreigners from anywhere other than the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. (4:29) Before the advent of information technology that would link Vietnam to the global community. (4:35)

Hoan Kiem Lake, one of the jewels of Hanoi and its main tourist area, is now brimming (4:39) with activity, foreigners and Vietnamese alike making their rounds, young people whispering (4:45) sweet nothings into each other’s ears after sunset, the steady drone of traffic, restaurants (4:51) and shops in every direction, people sitting in a cafe overlooking the city, sipping lime (4:56) juice and eating coconut ice cream. (4:58) In the mid-1980s, it was a quieter, darker, almost serene place with only the whir of (5:05) bicycle tires, the muffled sounds of voices, and the occasional Russian. (5:11)

Just 11 years ago, shortly after the trade embargo was lifted, Coca-Cola, much to the (5:16) dismay and anger of the Vietnamese, was erecting giant billboards across the street from the (5:20) historic opera house in Hanoi in a race to capture the nascent cola market. (5:34) Today, sophisticated Western-style advertising in Vietnamese and English graces the city’s (5:40) skyline in the form of billboards and signs, and TV commercials cater to a rapidly growing (5:46) urban middle class. (5:47) The effect of seeing this advertising side-by-side with hand-painted posters and billboards exhorting (5:53) people to have only two children, beware of the dangers of HIV-AIDS, and vote in an upcoming (5:59) election can be surreal. (6:02)

Although the market reforms of the late 1980s have contributed to Vietnam’s recovery and (6:07) to a stratospheric economic growth rate, they have also led to a widening gap between (6:11) rich and poor and to a rural-urban migration, as in China, that the nation’s cities simply (6:17) cannot absorb. (6:19)

There are other, less tangible changes that may reflect a shift in values, especially (6:23) among the younger generation, from a collectivist to a more individualist orientation, the result (6:29) of a market economy that emphasizes competition, image, and consumerism. (6:36) Nevertheless, although money has increased in figurative value, a sense of community (6:40) and the family remain important to Vietnamese of all ages and backgrounds. (6:45)

Gone are the old days when people pretended to be poor so that it would not appear that (6:50) they were becoming capitalistic, a fear that resulted from years of centralized economic (6:54) planning in the North. (6:56) Poverty is a great equalizer, and there was a time when the Vietnamese were unified and (7:02) in solidarity in terms of what they had and, during wartime, in relation to the common (7:07) enemy against which they fought. (7:10) Personal initiative and risk-taking in pursuit of material gain were not valued commodities (7:14) under the old system. (7:17) The emphasis, for both historical and political reasons, was on safety in numbers and working (7:23) together for the common good, which frequently involved prolonged resistance against a foreign (7:28) invader and physical survival. (7:32)

For better and for worse, the consumer economy has arrived with a vengeance in Vietnam, particularly (7:37) in the cities. (7:39) In the Vietnam of today, especially among members of the urban elite, the trend is to (7:44) show off one’s financial well-being, be it by wearing designer clothes and expensive (7:49) jewelry or by driving a high-end motorbike or car. (7:53) Competition is making inroads in a collectivist society, and inequality of income and wealth (7:58) is on the rise. (8:00) One’s mode of transportation is the likely indicator of social class, from car to motorbike (8:06) to bicycle to bus. (8:11)

While seemingly rigid to the outside observer and, like most political systems, riddled (8:16) with inconsistencies and canyon-like gaps between rhetoric and reality, Vietnam has (8:21) succeeded in maintaining stability and peace for all of its citizens and creating a rising (8:26) tie to prosperity for growing segments of its population, especially in urban areas. (8:44) Contrary to the widely held view of one-party states, where everyone walks in lockstep blindly (8:49) following a narrowly defined party line, there are many divergent views and disagreements (8:54) in Vietnam about such macro-level issues as the overall direction in which the country (8:59) should be heading, as well as micro-level issues like whether karaoke is a social evil (9:04) or the right of every Vietnamese citizen. (9:09) What is undeniable is that party and state have chosen to bend rather than break at (9:14) recent watershed moments, such as the shift from centralized planning to a free-market (9:19) economy. (9:21)

During his November 2000 visit to Vietnam, President Bill Clinton spoke to faculty and (9:26) students at Vietnam National University in Hanoi, the country’s oldest and most prestigious (9:32) institution of higher learning. (9:33) It was a rare opportunity for a U.S. president to speak directly to the future leaders of (9:39) Vietnam without the filter of state-controlled media. (9:43) Clinton’s references to the limitations of knowledge with undue restrictions on its use (9:47) and the importance of having the freedom to explore, to travel, to think, to speak, to (9:53) shape decisions that affect our lives and enrich the lives of individuals and nations (9:58) were a double-edged sword. (9:59)

Although these remarks were intended to be both instructive and informative, they were (10:04) also implied criticisms of an authoritarian system that prizes political conformity and (10:09) limits freedom of the press. (10:14) This form of ideological schizophrenia is typical of a country that yearns for the wealth (10:19) that a market economy can produce, while being reluctant to implement the political changes (10:23) needed to succeed in the long term. (10:28) It is the push and pull of diametrically opposed forces within the Communist Party that, without (10:34) a hint of irony, can simultaneously sing the praises of a market-oriented economy and rail (10:40) against unbridled individualism. (10:42) It is a transitional society in which, ironically, successful private sector companies can be (10:48) awarded the Red Star for Distinguished Achievement. (10:52)

The challenge for the Vietnamese government and the Communist Party of Vietnam is how to (10:57) grow the country economically without letting go of power. (11:01) One party official used the metaphor of an egg hatching. (11:05) The chick is inside, pecking at a very fragile shell. (11:09) The only question is when the egg will hatch, in a year, a few years, 25 years, and what (11:15) kind of chick will emerge. (11:17) A cynic would argue that those in power have successfully managed to convert political capital (11:22) and power into economic power and wealth, as in China. (11:26) Change means having to give up money, position, status, benefits, having to relinquish a piece (11:32) of the pie, as it were. (11:34)

There are many government and party officials who are constructively critical of various (11:38) policies and actions, but prefer to complain in private so as not to jeopardize the position (11:44) and privilege and that of their children. (11:46) There is a realization, even among insiders, maybe especially among insiders who know (11:52) the system better than anyone, that changes have to be implemented. (11:55) The questions are how, how fast, and when, what model should be used? (12:00) What does it really mean to have a market economy with socialist orientation? (12:09)

Vietnam’s slow but sure integration into the international community is evidence that it (12:14) chooses not to identify with any one system, including U.S. and European forms of capitalism (12:19) and democracy. (12:21) What weighs heavily on the minds of Vietnam’s leaders, policy makers, and others, including (12:27) business people, is fear of the unknown, the pace of change, the possibility of instability, (12:33) and the lingering paranoia of the war years. (12:37)

Robert Templer asserts that, because of the economic reforms, the economy and society (12:41) have changed radically, creating small gatherings and associations, unfocused and diverse pockets (12:47) of alternative power, and individual ideas that can only grow, an economy unshackled (12:52) from the state has been the breeding ground of an incipient civil society. (12:57) Although this may be overstating the case somewhat, there is an element of truth to (13:01) it. (13:02)

The private sector, in whatever shape or form, is the future of Vietnam, but under the guidance (13:08) of a highly centralized government and the Communist Party, regardless of what it ends (13:13) up calling itself. (13:14) The main point is that it keeps its eyes on the prize, the cherished and time-honored (13:19) goals of stability and incremental change.