From: CNguyen.osbu_north@xerox.com
Subject: Re: Worst Famine in Vietnam History
Originator: daemon@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Reply-To: Cuong_M._Nguyen.OSBU_North@xerox.com
Organization: SCV Relay
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 20:45:59 GMT


From:	v-nguyen@retina.cis.ohio-state.edu (Viet-Anh V Nguyen)
$From: "HOANG NGUYEN (PAUL) 765-9447/PAGER 237-3542 M/S RN2-18"
HNGUYEN@SC9.intel.com>:
$
$>>In article <30g602Fg20Xk01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> vqt00@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com
$>>(Married With Children) wrote:
$>>
$>>>Now with all the headlines about the famines in Somalia, Ethiopia; I
$>>>remember about a story that mom told me a long time ago.
$>>>She said that during the worst famine in VN history during 1940s
$>>>(not remember which year), restaurants in North VN would make pho+? with
$>>                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
$>>>babies because beef was so scare.  I am not sure whether this is accurate
$>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
$>>>especially when it comes from my mom.
$
$>>
$>>   NNNNNN    NNNN     OOOOOOOOOOO
$>>   NNNN NN   NNNN     OOOO   OOOO
$>>   NNNN  NN  NNNN     OOOO   OOOO
$>>   NNNN   NN NNNN     OOOO   OOOO
$>>   NNNN    NNNNNN     OOOO   OOOO
$>>   NNNN     NNNNN     OOOOOOOOOOO , it CAN'T be true!
$
$>	Hello VA,
$>
$>	You seem to be very confident about this.  Would you mind to elaborate
$>	more about your CONFIDENT answer in order for us, the SCV-ers, to open
$>	our knowledge, please?
$>
$>	Thanks in advance,
$>
$>	Hoa`ng
$
$
$Hi anh Hoa`ng and other interested netters,
$
$Actually, I've been waiting for you to enlighten me to the contrary, if you
can
$(with full quoted sources and references, please). The confidence manifested
in
$my answer just came naturally from my faith in the goodness of the Vietnamese
$common people. However, my answer should not, in any way, be construed as the
$reaction from a closed-minded person.
$
$Gratefully yours,
$Vietanh Nguyen


I checked DDoa\n Them's "1945-1964: Vie^.c Tu*\ng Nga\y" and saw no such entry
(make pho+? with babies.) The only entries I read were:

<1-3-1945 (17 tha'ng Gieng At Da.u)
		- Nhieu nguoi chet qua roi. Theo nhieu tin o cac ddia phuong,
dan chet la hang van. Tai mien duyen hai Bac ky, o nhieu noi, chet ca nha, ca
xom, hay gan het ca lang. Nhieu dan que thieu an, keo ve cac thanh pho, mong
kiem dduoc gao. Xac chet nam lan o nhieu nga dduong, ngay o Ha Noi.>

<4-3-1945	- Nhieu ddoan the tu thien quyen tien quyen gao giup ddong bao
ddoi: Tu Tet, rieng tai bai Phuc Xa bo song Ha noi, dda cap 2.500 xuat com, 850
ao chen bang bong gao, 850 nam xoi...>

So I would say that "make pho+? with babies" was just one of many
unbielievable/untrue rumors in those days. Bear in mind that in "1945-1964:
Vie^.c Tu*\ng Nga\y" DDoa\n Them also logged rumors, like the one below:

<30-9-1945	- Theo nhieu tin ddon, tuong Tieu Van va tuong Lu Han dda nhan
nhieu qua tang nhu bo ddo hut thuoc phien bang vang.>

Having said all that, here's my thought:

One would be categorized as racist if he/she looked down on other races. I
wonder how one would be called if he/she looked down on his/her very own race ?


/cuong
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese