“Biết bao giờ đi biểu tình mới là chuyện bình thường ở xứ ta, để những người yêu nước không phải cảnh giác cao độ, với nhau và với chính quyền?” You can read Mr. Blog’s reflection on the anti-China demonstration here.
The following is a touching letter from a Vietnamese father who took his young daughter to the anti-China demonstration on 6/5/2011. Sorry, no translation yet. Bây giờ đã quá nửa đêm, con đang ngủ say bên mẹ. Cả nhà chỉ còn mình cha thức bên máy tính. Cha viết cho con thư này với niềm … Continue reading
A few videos on this historic day:
Today, June 5, 2011, thousands of people took to the streets of Saigon and Hanoi in Vietnam to protest China’s ongoing invasion of Vietnamese sea territory. The demonstrations were notable because (a) they were probably the largest demonstrations in tightly controlled Vietnam since the end of war, (b) they openly defied the Vietnamese government’s threats … Continue reading
They spoke up against corrupt government officials stealing land from farmers. They organized underground churches to worship without government interference. They campaigned for Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands in the Southeast Asia Sea. And what did they get in return? Jail terms ranging from 2 years to 8 years for “conspiracy against … Continue reading
I spent New Year’s Eve in the hospital and missed the countdown for the first time in 18 years, working on a new admission. The new decade arrived without much fanfare to me. I have made no new year resolution because previous resolutions were usually forgotten after a few weeks. And my goals are now … Continue reading
Many people have replied, both publicly and privately, to my recent mentioning of the New York Review of Books review of Bill Hayton’s Vietnam: Rising Dragon. Some agreed with Hayton’s assessment, and some, like the following responses on Facebook from two close friends who know modern Vietnam extremely well, disagreed: I respectfully disagree! This is … Continue reading
In this week’s New York Review of Books, Jonathan Mirsky wrote a great review of Bill Hayton’s Vietnam: Rising Dragon, recently published by Yale University Press. Bill Hayton provides an accurate of depiction of modern Vietnam, one that is vastly different from the rosy perceptions that guilt-ladden Westernerns often hold. Reading Bill Hayton’s enlightening and persuasive … Continue reading
Happy new year to all of you who celebrate the year of the ox (or water buffalo). To celebrate the new year, I continued to work as normal. Yes, January 1st is always a holiday, but the first day of the lunar year is not. Chuc Mung Nam Moi!
