Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Date:         Fri, 22 Jan 1993 16:21:54 -0800
              USENET." <VIETNET@USCVM.BITNET>
From:         cao@MERVAX.DECNET.LOCKHEED.COM
Subject:      To Tin, Tung et al: VN OR NOT VN?

Our "Chairman" Tin Le, Tung Le and all involved,


    I have followed your discussion (on whether we should
help VN) with great interest.  I don't think anybody is right or wrong, just
timely or not.  Of course, most of us would like to help our then fatherland
no matter what your citizenship is.  TIMING has to do with everything.  Tung
with his great enthusiasm wants to do it 'now' while most of you clearly
showed your stance.  You share with Tung one thing that is YOU ALL CARE!
In my opinion name calling and the like is really not called for and I
wish those who would like to speak up their mind would do so without
belittling others.  Although his opinions are not in the same line as yours,
he does have some valid points;  one of which is the impending threat that
China (the sleeping giant up to now, and may I add their puppet,the Khmer
Rouge, as well as the increasingly militant Japan) is posing to the survival
of our fatherland.  That is not to mention the economic pressure from the
Asian giants and emerging tigers in the region.  What does the Vietnamese
government do in the face of these threats?  Nero fiddling while Rome burned
would be a good analogy.

    However, we as those outside with more freedom to
act would have only ourselves to blame if one day poor Vietnam is just a pool
of unskilled labor in an increasingly global market or worse off yet, again
under foreign occupation!!!  Sounds far off?  I think not.  If you take a look
back at the region's history and look forward to the 21st global market,
you would agree with me.

    It would be ideal if there are no extremists from either side (VN Commies,
and fervent anticommunists especially in the US) and all of us think of
ourselves as WE or US intead of enemies.  However, we are living in a
political world and have to do our best in this environment.  I truly
believe that an average Vietnamese, be it in VN or overseas, really does
not give a hoot about the ideology game.  (Please look around you with
observing eyes.)  And that most of us are tired of the perpetual cycle of
vengeance, bloodshed and the like.  WE both overseas and inside VN (and I
emphasize inside Vietnam!) got to realize that the days of ideology war are
over.  Let go of them!  There is just too much to do ahead of us.
It's now time to rebuild which is going to be much more challenging and
require more of us than tearing the country apart with guns from
foreigners.  Neither is it time to point fingers at each other for what
already happened.  Do you want Vietnam to be another tiger in the region ?
if not it has no choice but be a chicken (a Japanese chicken! because
Japan is going to be the controlling force in the region).

    It is time for the Vietnamese government to stop their human rights
violations as well as corruption and other injustices in Vietnam.  It is
also time for us, I mean us OVERSEAS, to stop discouraging those who would
like to do their part to help out the people in Vietnam in the form of
encouraging investments or humanitarian aids.  Of course some of these
monies will find their way to the wrong people in Vietnam.  Therefore,
ways to help prevent this kind of abuse are to be thought of, instead of
NOT doing anything at all.  One of the prevention methods may be through a
trust-worthy third party to ensure that the resources you send there to
help won't end up in the wrong hands.  One point to remember:  the inner
party members are ALWAYS fat no matter what happens.  It is the common
folks (da^n -den) that we are concerning ourselves with.  These are the
ones who will have more to gain or lose at the end, who will really
count at the end.  How I wish VN (then due to arrogance) and
the US (now about face) would stop playing hardball at the expense of
the Vietnamese people -- included here is a generation of young people,
who will be the rebuilders of Vietnam.

    For those who would like to go back to help the people, I would
ENCOURAGE them.  By that I mean those who are willing to go across the
political boundries, willing to sacrifice a comfortable life in the US,
and really want to help the people their with their knowledge or
financial resources.  Just prepare yourself well, arm yourself with
leverage and alliance, and be really cautious because you are going to
on their turf.   And for those who want to show off, to
wear "ao' ga^'m ve^` la`ng", or to buy a petty title in the seemingly
welcome government :  don't even THINK of it !!!!!

    A few words to Tung and his friend:  I really
admire you for standing up to what you believe in despite numerous
criticism.  Please don't let that discourage you from speaking up in
the future;  I would like to hear how new investments and joint-ventures
are taking shape in Vietnam.  Sure that will create jobs for the people
as well as excellent opportunities for them to come in contact with the
outside.  As far as the comments go, despite of the emotions, all of us
are just trying to help; so take everything with a grain of salt.  Also,
try to listen to the "WISDOM of the old", believe in yourself and you
will be all right.  Best of luck to you.

    In conclusion, Tung and all of you who have been involved in the
discussion on to help or not to help all have your own merits.  You just
differ in the time frame (or conditions) that you want to carry out your
plans.  To those who have the same "hoa`i ba?o" as me that is to be able
to help our fatherland and our people, I send my best and hope that we
will be able to work together some day.  I believe together we can solve
anything;  let's forget the notion of waiting around for a "-da^'ng Anh
Qua^n" for directions.  What we need to know or to do is already in your
heart, in your blood.  As for my new year wish, here is to a brighter
future of Vietnam or Ta^n Vie^t. that we all will be proud of !!!

    Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.


                                           Peace,
                                           Cha'nh Cao
                                           New Hampshire
                                           cao@mervax.lockheed.sanders.com