Writers who tangle with the authorities have lost their press cards and jobs. In some cases they are jailed or isolated under house arrest. Individuals get reprimanded and newspapers closed down. Such troubles and the cynicism that results is not confined to the media. Hanoi's efforts to marry the freedoms of the market economy with tight state control is producing more than one wayward child.
Corruption is out of control.
Investor sentiment is cool. Unrest is a problem in the provinces. And intellectuals, long the heart of the nation's creativity and closely linked to its politics, bemoan the sorry state of cultural life and their own declining role. In the busy Saigon news offices of one of Vietnam's leading newspapers, Tuoi Tre, or Youth, pressures are building as deadlines approach. The paper and its sister magazines have taken the more difficult route of seeking to appeal through being provocative, often using humour.