tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83496321960641413562024-03-11T03:13:50.958+08:00The Asia FileThoughts, news and views on politics, economics, business and development in Southeast AsiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger272125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-42650804470213983402011-12-05T21:25:00.004+08:002011-12-05T21:48:19.325+08:00A historic day: Aung San Suu Kyi meets Hillary Clinton in Yangon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj8QqPLwx50RczluxRoavOHX-smNibPzoFQcs0WQoB-63KQHHo9STgZv4uXhxEUfpKnUCYUTNSCd_2sT17Ce4V2lW1070N6YNiKj6sxdaPiCJ5wkN204LKvKI5auAsmRzXuy6QGuKwfYu/s1600/DSCF2498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj8QqPLwx50RczluxRoavOHX-smNibPzoFQcs0WQoB-63KQHHo9STgZv4uXhxEUfpKnUCYUTNSCd_2sT17Ce4V2lW1070N6YNiKj6sxdaPiCJ5wkN204LKvKI5auAsmRzXuy6QGuKwfYu/s400/DSCF2498.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Local and international journalists queue up outside 54 University Avenue, the family residence of Aung San Suu Kyi, where she was detained under house arrest by the military junta for 15 years until her release last November We were told to arrive at least 3 hours before Suu Kyi and Hillary Clinton graced us with their presence for security reasons.<br />
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A US Secret Service officer keeps watch while the "uncles" from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, including 82-year-old U Win Tin, file into her house ahead of the meeting with Clinton.<br />
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Western journalists had a good opportunity to top up their tan while waiting for the "two ladies" to appear. The set-up, by Inya lake in the garden of Suu Kyi's house, looks like it would make a good wedding venue if she is ever short of cash.<br />
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This member of the traveling Washington press corps appears to be struggling to come to terms with his comically-oversized Burmese mobile phone, the sort of brick-like communication device last seen in the West about 20 years ago. In a country with very poor mobile phone networks, the large aerial helps but not enough to assuage this poor chap's frustrations.<br />
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Here come the brides...<br />
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They make a great couple, complete with matching hand gestures.<br />
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Photographers scramble to get a shot of "the hug".<br />
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Surprisingly, for two women with steely reputations, the warmth between them looked genuine.<br />
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Some of Burma's private weekly newspapers went big on the Clinton/Suu Kyi meeting. A veteran Burmese journalist told me that sticking The Lady's photo on their front page always boosts sales. The government still does not allow any privately-owned newspapers to publish on a daily basis but has indicated that that may change next year.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-30420478812450005582011-04-02T12:31:00.000+08:002011-04-02T12:31:36.599+08:00An interview with Vietnam's first and only astronautToday the Financial Times has published a <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5bbb4f2e-5c64-11e0-8f48-00144feab49a.html#axzz1I3twEcWL">special edition magazine</a> to commemorate the 50th anniversary of man going into space.<br />
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Below is an extract of my interview with Pham Tuan, Vietnam's first and only astronaut.<br />
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<blockquote>Pham Tuan was the ideal candidate to become the first Asian in space, as far as Vietnam’s hard-line communist leaders were concerned. From humble beginnings in a poor village, he had already risen to the rank of national hero. Defending his homeland from sustained US attacks during the Christmas Bombings of 1972, Tuan was credited with becoming the first Vietnamese fighter pilot to shoot down a B52 in air-to-air combat – a feat many US aviators still insist was impossible.<br />
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During his eight-day sojourn at the Salyut 6 space station, Tuan beamed back messages hailing Vietnam’s long struggle for independence and thanking the Communist party “for having trained me and given me wings to fly into space”.<br />
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Back on planet Earth, the hungry Vietnamese people were not so easily taken in. A popular rhyme at the time pondered: “We have no rice, we have no noodles, so why are you going into space Mr Tuan?”<br />
</blockquote><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ae7c9470-5a70-11e0-8367-00144feab49a.html#axzz1Hx7A7hIK">Read the rest of my profile here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-91731288989120963602011-03-28T02:22:00.000+08:002011-03-28T02:22:04.414+08:00(Not) Understanding VietnamIf you want to understand why Vietnam is mired in economic instability, I'd urge you <i>not</i> to read <a href="http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Why-are-gold-and-USD-strictly-controlled/20113/125069.vov">this story on the state-owned Voice of Vietnam news website</a>. <br />
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The story - an interview with a national assembly member headlined: "Why are gold and USD strictly controlled?" - meanders around the subject, adding new layers of confusion with each paragraph.<br />
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Perhaps it's just a bad translation - I know official Vietnamese can be very tough to render into crisp English.<br />
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After circling round and round, the report climaxes with a richly and - I suspect - accidentally ironic ending, which merits full quotation:<br />
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<blockquote>Dr Kien: The bottom line is that people have lost their trust in the value of the domestic currency due to one-sided information in the media.<br />
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Reporter: Thank you.<br />
</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-32360325927323684892011-03-23T23:16:00.001+08:002011-03-23T23:17:46.849+08:00Western pop music in Vietnam: from “social evil” to status symbol<i>My latest post for the Financial Times' <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/03/23/western-pop-in-vietnam-from-social-evil-to-sign-of-status/">Beyond Brics</a> blog:</i><br />
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Throaty song-writing legend Bob Dylan and 90s teen favourites the Backstreet Boys might not have much in common as far as most music fans are concerned.<br />
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But both are playing big gigs in Vietnam over the next few weeks as music promoters test out the appetite for expensive, international standard entertainment.<br />
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Communist Vietnam has opened up rapidly over the last twenty years and Western pop music has been off the list of “social evils” for some time. But the live music market remains relatively undeveloped and only a handful of international artists have played in Vietnam thus far.<br />
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In a country where many would count themselves lucky to earn $100 a month, you might wonder who will be willing to pay $50-$120 for a ticket to the Dylan and Backstreet Boys gigs. But that’s well within the reach of status-conscious urbanites, who have been splashing out on iPhones, fancy cars and sleek scooters for a number of years.<br />
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<i>Read the rest of this blog post over at the FT's <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/03/23/western-pop-in-vietnam-from-social-evil-to-sign-of-status/">Beyond Brics</a>, which is free to all comers.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-15627039843814605082011-03-14T02:54:00.002+08:002011-03-14T02:57:14.190+08:00The Financial Times is recruiting a News Assistant in Hanoi<b>Vacancy – News assistant for the Financial Times, Hanoi</b><br />
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The <a href="http://www.ft.com">Financial Times</a>, one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recently opened a bureau in Hanoi in order to expand its coverage of Vietnam.<br />
We are looking to recruit a Vietnamese national to work as a news assistant alongside our resident foreign correspondent.<br />
The successful candidate will be a dynamic and enthusiastic self-starter, with experience in journalism and strong news judgement.<br />
You will help the correspondent to cover a wide range of stories involving economics, investment, politics, climate change, health and social issues. As we are a new and small bureau, you must be flexible and able to work independently and as part of a team.<br />
When covering breaking news, you will have to work under pressure to tight deadlines.<br />
This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious individual to gain experience working at a leading international news organisation and to help shape our coverage of Vietnam.<br />
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<b>Job description</b><br />
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Setting up and carrying out interviews with government officials, business leaders and others<br />
Scanning the Vietnamese press for important stories and monitoring other news sources<br />
Generating and developing story ideas<br />
Carrying out in-depth research<br />
Translating and interpreting<br />
Some travel within Vietnam will be required<br />
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<b>Essential Qualifications/Experience/Qualities</b><br />
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Bachelors degree or higher<br />
Experience in journalism <br />
Fluent in Vietnamese and English<br />
A good understanding of economics, business and politics<br />
Confident and good at making new contacts<br />
Able to find information quickly<br />
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<b>Preferred</b><br />
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Good existing contacts among government officials and in the business community<br />
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<b>Competitive salary</b><br />
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<b>To apply, please send your CV and a covering letter explaining why you're the right person for this position to Ben Bland at ftvietnamjob@gmail.com.<br />
</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-11732638736170099672011-02-10T12:48:00.000+08:002011-02-10T12:48:04.558+08:00Comparing corruption in India and VietnamMy colleague David Pilling has written <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31655cc2-348e-11e0-9ebc-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1DBhfonRB">a great column in today's FT</a>, arguing that, despite much hand-wringing, Indian companies are as much to blame for corruption as government officials.<br />
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<blockquote>India is said to grow at night while its government sleeps. The quip, beloved of Indian businessmen, is often invoked to rubbish a corrupt and incompetent state and to praise a supposedly heroic entrepreneurial class. But there is something wrong with this picture. In many sectors, Indian entrepreneurs make money not in spite of government interference, but precisely through colluding with a state that provides the land, licences and rent-seeking opportunities on which they thrive.<br />
</blockquote><br />
A number of Vietnamese contacts have persistently made the same point to me here: when it comes to corruption, it takes two to tango.<br />
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Many Western businesses are also guilty of double standards, criticising the dominance of the state in the economy, while themselves seeking patronage, licences and rents from the government.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-56007294232545526532011-01-28T21:06:00.000+08:002011-01-28T21:06:27.342+08:00Vietnam’s black market alchemistsLife is not easy when annual inflation is more than 12 per cent, your currency is likely to be devalued again shortly and you have to splash out on overpriced Lunar New Year gifts to impress your friends, family and colleagues.<br />
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But Vietnamese people, long faced with macroeconomic instability, have become expert at cooking up black market schemes to make a little money on the side. The latest ruse, picked up by the Phnom Penh Post, involves travelling to neighbouring Cambodia, withdrawing dollars from an ATM at the official dong-dollar exchange rate and then converting the greenbacks back to Vietnam dong at the superior black market exchange rate.<br />
<i><br />
Read the rest of this blog post over at the FT's <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/01/28/vietnams-black-market-alchemists/">Beyond Brics</a>, which is free to all comers. </i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-11955281594741184182011-01-28T11:04:00.001+08:002011-01-28T11:05:41.212+08:00Diageo thirsty for local alcohol in VietnamWhile a select class of wealthy Vietnamese men like nothing more than cracking open a bottle of Johnnie Walker with their mates at a karaoke bar, the vast majority of alcohol consumed here is home-made “rice wine” served in re-used plastic water bottles.<br />
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But tastes are changing as the middle class grows and Diageo, the global drinks group, has forked over £33m for a stake in a local vodka maker as it seeks to tap into the growing fondness for higher quality but affordable Vietnamese brands. <br />
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<i>Read the rest of this blog post over at the FT's <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/01/27/vietnam-diageo-thirsty-for-local-alcohol/">Beyond Brics</a>, which is free to all comers.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-65809439741098016362011-01-26T01:38:00.001+08:002011-01-26T01:43:59.652+08:00The power of connections in VietnamWhether you're a luckless street kid, an ambitious Communist party apparatchik or an upstanding foreign investor, there are few greater truisms in Vietnam than "it's not what you know but who you know."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnq3_2xCpbbAHFTZZ6MLUYT5lmzegxvWj3x8yqzJzBUOpEYYFWnyOy7uEZ-vDcH700UNvdSivDaGjOze1cz-XISn91p-HGYgQFyCBXECJrsGCah6YRYiHkrLHH6tOzqb1UbBnvVTuOXv4c/s1600/DSCF1716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnq3_2xCpbbAHFTZZ6MLUYT5lmzegxvWj3x8yqzJzBUOpEYYFWnyOy7uEZ-vDcH700UNvdSivDaGjOze1cz-XISn91p-HGYgQFyCBXECJrsGCah6YRYiHkrLHH6tOzqb1UbBnvVTuOXv4c/s400/DSCF1716.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I observed a classic example this week while on a trip to the paddy fields of greater Hanoi.<br />
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Approaching a traffic police roadblock, the car I was in was flagged down by an officious senior cop. He beckoned the driver out of the vehicle and accused him of violating traffic regulations (yes, they do exist here) by overtaking on the other side of the road.<br />
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No matter that there was no oncoming traffic, the dividing line down the centre of the road was dotted rather than continuous (indicating overtaking was allowed) and that this driver was perhaps the most cautious I've ever had the pleasure to travel with in Vietnam.<br />
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The cop was either having a bad day standing around in the clammy Hanoi cold or needed some extra cash ahead of Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.<br />
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The driver was taken aside and given the usual dressing down that precedes negotiations over the extent of any fine (around 500,000 Vietnam dong or $25 for this type of offence, so I'm told). <br />
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Rightly or wrongly, it is unusual for traffic police to stop cars containing foreigners as they don't want to create extra work for themselves or risk annoying some important diplomat, investor or other VIP.<br />
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So I stepped out of the car, naively intent on explaining my status as a foreign journalist and asking politely if we could be allowed to resume our journey.<br />
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No sooner had I walked up to the senior policeman, head bowed out of respect, than the driver had called up a relative who worked for the traffic police and passed the phone to the other cop who swiftly waved us on our way.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-75647503002528191432011-01-12T00:09:00.000+08:002011-01-12T00:09:49.630+08:00History in the making: live tweeting Vietnam's Communist Party congressThe last time Vietnam's Communist Party met for its all-important five-yearly national congress, Twitter, the 140 character micro-blogging service, was yet to launch.<br />
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So prepare for a social media first, when I "live tweet" the 11th party congress, which begins on Wednesday at Hanoi's rather smart National Convention Centre.<br />
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Granted the bar hasn't been set that high. I didn't see any other journalists using Twitter at the pre-event press conference on Monday and Twitter isn't yet that popular in Vietnam (though that may change if Facebook continues to be blocked - some people have started bypassing the block by using Twitter to update their Facebook page).<br />
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But it's still going to be a first, provided I can get a mobile phone signal.<br />
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Read all about it at <a href="http://twitter.com/benjaminbland">http://twitter.com/benjaminbland</a>.<br />
<br />
For a sneak peek inside the congress venue, <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/01/10/vietnam-marx-v-the-market/">check out this blog I wrote for the FT's Beyond Brics</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-39359995367251396642010-11-27T00:32:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.218+08:00Moving on<p>Apologies for the lack of posting. This blog has been through its fair share of changes over the last few years, starting out as part of The Daily Telegraph before going independent and then joining Asian Correspondent.</p><br /><p>But, after more than a year on the Asian Correspondent platform, we've agreed to go our separate ways.</p><br /><p>I'd like to thank all my regular readers and commenters and would urge you to bookmark my new/old blog web address, which will be <a target="_blank" href="http://theasiafile.blogspot.com" target="_blank">http://theasiafile.blogspot.com</a>.</p><br /><p>As ever, I can be reached at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:theasiafile@gmail.com" target="_blank">theasiafile@gmail.com</a> or <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/benjaminbland" target="_blank">@benjaminbland</a> on Twitter.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-56927464424691644672010-11-20T14:02:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.197+08:00Taxi boy and the taxi girls<p><em>It's been a while since I penned my last Taxi Tale, a regular blog series dedicated to the insightful anecdotes, witty repartee and occasional pearls of wisdom that emerge from my regular conversations with taxi drivers around the region. So here's a new one:</em></p><br /><p>Once every month, a Hanoi taxi driver goes to pick up one of his best clients - a South Korean businessman in his mid-20s. Without fail, this young man needs to travel every four weeks to Do Son, a far-from-swanky beach resort east of Hanoi. It may only be 130km from the Vietnamese capital but because of the poor condition of the roads and the deteriorating traffic, a round trip can take as long as eight hours.</p><br /><p>For the young Korean, these time-consuming, regular journeys are essential to his ongoing success in Vietnam. But he is not traveling to meet government officials or business contacts. He is not interested in the sea, the sand or even the Do Son casino (open only to foreigners like all Vietnam's growing number of casinos).</p><br /><p>He goes to Do Son to sleep with Vietnamese prostitutes and to alleviate the boredom and alienation of expatriation. While few businessmen would travel quite so far to satisfy their carnal desires, across Asia, prostitution continues to oil the wheels of commerce. And commerce continues to oil the wheels of prostitution.</p><br /><p>The taxi driver, who only earns $500 a month with which to support a wife and two young children, is happy with the regular custom. Like many men in Vietnam, he has no moral qualms about what his client gets up to.</p><br /><p>"Men need to eat, drink and fuck," he told me.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-65513446105948354582010-11-14T20:32:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.173+08:00Time for an Aung San Suu Kyi reality check<p>When <a target="_blank" href="http://www.u2.com/news/title/cautious-joy" target="_blank">U2 releases a statement</a> sharing Bono and The Edge's views on Southeast Asian politics, you know it's time to take a major reality check.</p><br /><p>The coverage of Aung San Suu Kyi's release thus far has been breathless - not surprising given how long she has been detained and how much of an icon she has become within her country and globally.</p><br /><p>But the emotional outpourings from international journalists, campaigners and worthy pop stars alike seem to be having just the effect that Burma's ruling generals presumably wanted - distracting attention from their sham elections.</p><br /><p>It's far too early to know how much real freedom the generals will give Suu Kyi, what she will try to do and what impact this will have on Burma. Even genuine Burma experts seem at a loss to explain the junta's real game at the moment - see the 13, yes that's 13, theories on why they decided to hold elections, penned by academic Andrew Selth at the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2010/11/02/Burmas-elections-Thirteen-reasons.aspx" target="_blank">Lowy Interpreter</a>.</p><br /><p>As Nicholas Farrelly at the excellent <a target="_blank" href="http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2010/11/14/aung-san-suu-kyi-released/" target="_blank">New Mandala</a> blog puts it: "...many difficult questions remain unanswered and nobody pretends that the future will be easy, or that Burma’s generals don’t have their next moves in mind."</p><br /><p>In the meantime, you could do worse than read this sobering piece in <a target="_blank" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/8131470/Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-freed-What-happens-now.html" target="_blank">The Sunday Telegraph</a> by Justin Wintle, a critical but fair biographer of Suu Kyi. Extract:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>Looking back, and comparing what has happened in Burma with what has happened among such other Southeast Asian states as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and even Vietnam since World War Two, it is difficult not to behold an extreme political polarisation between Burma's military and the more liberal elements of its population, in which any bridges between the two sides have long been swept away.</p><br /><p>And if the army is principally responsible for the stasis that has ensued, it is arguable that Aung San Suu Kyi's principled commitment to full democracy, and her unwillingness, or inability, to make meaningful compromises, have been a significant contributor.</p><br /><p>As for Miss Suu Kyi herself, it is tempting to think she has resigned herself to martyrdom of one sort or another, as the only means left to leave her mark.</p><br /><p>Her critics say she is too pure, and that her actual grasp of politics is slender. They also say she made a fundamental error in the mid- 1990s, when she was at liberty, by not bringing on a younger leadership generation within her party, preferring instead to depend upon an elderly coterie made up of such democratic stalwarts as one time defence minister U Tin Oo and the journalist Win Tin, both now in their eighties.</p><br /><p>Yet if martyrdom is her chosen path, Aung San Suu Kyi's instincts may not be so awry.</p><br /><p>Above all she has furnished the Burmese people with a heroic model quite different from that dreary line of past warrior kings so beloved of Than Shwe and his cronies. And for that she will be remembered, inside and outside Burma for generations to come.</p><br /></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-32024979091428795832010-11-12T13:44:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.160+08:00Vietnam: The face of modern Communism<p>The right to denounce thy neighbour, comrade, colleague or family member is one of the fundamental building blocks of any self-respecting, self-criticising Communist state.</p><br /><p>The Vietnamese government is making some small steps to revamp the legal and political framework in line with the rapid economic changes that have been taking place over the last 20 years.</p><br /><p>As part of that process, deputies to Vietnam's National Assembly are currently debating an upgrade to the legislation to ensure that Vietnam has a denunciation law for the 21st Century.</p><br /><p>On Thursday, deputies debated the need to find a balance between protecting denouncers from revenge while ensuring that the denounced cannot be unfairly maligned, according to a report in the <a target="_blank" href="http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Industries/205628/Oil-refinery-confirms-nations-vision-.html" target="_blank">Vietnam News</a>, the main government mouthpiece.</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>Deputy Hong Anh voiced the need for a specific framework to protect denouncers so that they will not be deterred by the risk of revenge.</p><br /><p>Anh's point was echoed by other deputies, who complained about general regulations in the law regarding this issue, and required elaboration by authorities at various levels on protections for denouncers.</p><br /><p>Deputies also mentioned the law also needs to protect the denounced in terms of employment, dignity, and political and economic benefits.</p><br /><p>"The law should ensure restoration of honour, rights and benefits of the denounced in case the allegations cannot be proven," said deputy Nguyen Thi Hoa.</p><br /></blockquote><br /><p>It looks like a valiant effort to combine the principle of denunciation with the norms of human rights and employment law. The National Assembly also discussed the need to clarify the denunciation rights of overseas Vietnamese, in light of the fact that expatriates living in Vietnam already have the right to denounce.</p><br /><p>Not a right that I'd expect many expats to make use of, however annoyed they may get at being overcharged 2,000 Vietnam dong for a can of Coke.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-78735094843591261732010-11-06T17:00:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.101+08:00Singapore’s confused stance on media freedom<p>Singapore’s government likes to be number one. If you want proof, look through any speech by a government minister. They will invariably reel off a list of examples of the city-state coming top of some global ranking or other on the ease of doing business or quality of life.</p><br /><p>Hence the frustration on the part of K Shanmugam, the newly promoted home affairs minister, at the censorious city-state’s lowly ranking in the press freedom rankings produced by Reporters without Borders and others.</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/minlaw/speech/S-20101105-1/AttachmentPar/0/file/Minister's%20Address%20to%20Global%20Free%20Press%20Forum%20%20NY.pdf" target="_blank">In a speech in New York on Thursday</a>, which the <a href="http://journalism.sg/2010/11/06/shanmugam-on-the-press/" target="_blank">journalism.sg</a> website described as the “government's most detailed and robust defence in years of its position on the role of the press”, he bemoaned the fact that media freedom organisations rank Singapore below Colombia, Guinea, Haiti, Kenya and Pakistan.</p><br /><p>In Guinea, democracy activists have recently been gunned down and female opposition campaigners raped, so how can Singapore rank below Guinea, he ponders incredulously.</p><br /><p>Shanmugam appears not to understand that press freedom indices rank press freedom, not military repression.</p><br /><p>More broadly, it seems that he cannot make up his mind whether he wants to defend Singapore’s very restrictive media environment – using the old Asian values argument favoured by Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew – or promote Singapore’s ambitions to be a global media hub.</p><br /><p>At one stage, he starts bragging about the Singapore government’s impeccable record of winning libel actions against the world’s leading news organisations:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>I suspect that our rankings are at least partly due to the fact that we take an uncompromising attitude we take [sic] on libel – and the fact that we have taken on the almost every major newspaper company. Such audacity that tiny Singapore has.</p><br /></blockquote><br /><p>Then he turns course, insisting that “we don’t shut out the world”:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>We have more than 5,500 foreign newspapers and publications in circulation in Singapore. There are close to 100 TV channels carried on our cable networks. Nearly 200 correspondents from 72 foreign media organisations are based in Singapore.</p><br /></blockquote><br /><p>Similarly, he says that the media in Singapore should be politically neutral and “should report fully and fairly what goes on… can probe, ask inconvenient questions, and expose wrong-doing.”</p><br /><p>But he attacks the so-called western concept of the media as a fourth estate, holding the government to account. News organisations are fallible, unaccountable and open to influence from their owners and commercial partners, he says.</p><br /><p>He’s right about that, of course. But when he poses the following question – “Do parts of the media act as campaign arms of politicians, peddle half-truths and present very biased perspectives?” – this concern surely applies more to Singapore’s homogeneous government-controlled press then to plural Western media environments.</p><br /><p>Perhaps the greatest irony of his speech is that many of his criticisms of the Western liberal approach to the media are drawn from commentaries in the self-same leading newspapers that he is so proud of Singapore having sued.</p><br /><p>It all goes to show that those who fear criticism the most also crave recognition.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-17196336169891821832010-11-06T15:56:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.080+08:00Vietnam's diplomatic height requirement applies to men too<p><a target="_blank" href="../the-asia-file/warning-you-must-be-over-160cm-to-enter-this-diplomatic-service" target="_blank">After I blogged last month</a> about the 160cm minimum height requirement for women to join Vietnam's diplomatic service, one reader asked whether there was also a limit for men.</p><br /><p>Further discussions with some of Vietnam's finest young foreign service officials, who have done a sterling job organising the recent Asean summits in Hanoi, reveals that there is a height requirement for men too, of 165cm.</p><br /><p>One female official told me that the height requirement for women has increased from 157cm when she took her foreign service exams nine years ago, a sign of the increasing wealth and improving standards of nutrition in Vietnam.</p><br /><p>But, she added, there is some flexibility with regards to these height requirements. After candidates are measured and their heights announced, they have a chance to argue their case if they fall short.</p><br /><p>"It's a good test of your negotiating skills," she said. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-29608019459246074972010-11-01T10:46:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.066+08:00Maturing Vietnam-US relations<p>When Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/30/AR2010103001255.html" target="_blank">chided Vietnam over its recent human rights record</a> during a joint press conference in Hanoi on Saturday with Pham Gia Khiem, Vietnam's Foreign Minister, he grimaced for a brief moment before relaxing and offering the following response:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>In my talk with Madame Secretary, we agreed that in human rights, we have a lot of differences between the US and Vietnam and I told Madame Secretary that we should continue carrying out a dialogue to resolve our differences.</p><br /></blockquote><br /><p>While cynics might say that he is effectively sticking two fingers up at his American counterpart, the mellow tone of his reply is significant. In the past, the Vietnamese government has reacted angrily to criticism from the US and others over human rights, insisting that they have no right to interfere in its internal affairs.</p><br /><p>Ever since relations between the former warring parties were normalised 15 years ago, Vietnam has been aware of the economic importance of developing its trade relations with the US. Over the last couple of years, there has also been an increasing realisation in both countries of the need to strengthen their political and strategic ties, in order to better balance the growing regional power of China.</p><br /><p>It can't have been easy for Khiem to stand up, in front of the Vietnamese and international press and TV cameras, and let Clinton's comments wash over him but it was a sign of the maturity of the relationship between the two countries.</p><br /><p>The US thinks that arresting bloggers and limiting academic and press freedom will damage Vietnam's growth prospects. The Vietnamese government disagrees. But both sides can accept the difference of opinion and move on to more fruitful area of co-operation, at least for now.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-70942807578804571062010-10-30T14:44:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.052+08:00Beware of Burmese bearing gifts<p>This morning, I was skulking around the depths of Hanoi's National Convention Centre, which is hosting the Asean and East Asian Summits, when I saw an intriguing sight.</p><br /><p>A very well presented woman in a traditional Burmese longyi, was trying to gain access to the office of the United Nations delegation, with a large package.</p><br /><p>The woman, escorted by a rather less well presented male Burmese diplomat, had a present for Ban Ki Moon, it transpired.</p><br /><p>She told me it was a "painting made out of precious stones".</p><br /><p>Unfortunately, the UN had already left the building.</p><br /><p>Presuming the painting is eventually passed on to Mr Ban, I wonder what he will do with it, given that Burma's gem trade is reliant on forced labour, child labour and land confiscation, according to NGOs such as <a target="_blank" href="http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,HRW,,DZA,,47a833ff14,0.html" target="_blank">Human Rights Watch</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-67712417276741982622010-10-24T19:15:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:08.018+08:00US academic in Singapore casts doubt on Yale tie-up<p>Over the last year, I've hosted a reasonably robust debate on this blog about academic freedom in Singapore. This has generated some very interesting feedback from readers and others.</p><br /><p>An anonymous reader, who says they are an American academic in Singapore, has posted an insightful and balanced comment on the prospects for <a target="_blank" href="../the-asia-file/leading-yale-professor-opposes-singapore-tie-up" target="_blank">Yale's proposed tie-up with the National University of Singapore</a>. I have no way of knowing if they are who they say they are but they seem to know what they are talking about.</p><br /><p>I will leave you to decide. Here's the comment in full:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>I am an American academic who has lived and taught in Singapore for well over a decade, in both local universities and in an American college program here that went under about 10 years back. The latter experience left those of us faculty members who taught in the program and had to be let go severely demoralized. I have serious doubts about the Yale initiative in Singapore for four reasons:<br /><br />1. An intellectual/psychic time sink: I agree with James Scott that over time, it's likely that the Yale constituency will have to make more and more compromises in order to carry on here. As the situation intensifies, you can bet that at least 50% of the staff/students will spend at least 50% of their time focused on the negativities of this situation, and it will only get worse. The "Yale in NUS" prospect is a potential waste of both faculty and student resources that could better be put towards other kinds of cross-cultural and experiential learning. And if/when Yale pulls out, it will be a very depressing, frustrating experience for all concerned.<br /><br />2. An inherently status-limiting pursuit for people who are invested in achieving higher and higher status: both the faculty and students involved in the Yale initiative will no doubt have ambitious plans for achieving all that is embodied in the Yale name. They will find out that in Singapore, the humanities and social sciences simply cannot achieve the kind of social recognition and financial reward associated with the science and business spheres. This may be happening everywhere, but it’s particularly acute in Singapore.<br /><br />3. An uncongenial environment for the personal downtime and reflection that go along with a liberal arts education: try to find somewhere peaceful and quiet to ruminate on the big questions in life in Singapore, away from campus. Good luck. Over the decade-and-a-half that I’ve lived here, I’ve seen the opportunities to go for long, thoughtful walks diminish as space becomes increasingly chopped up and commercialized, and it’s even hard to find a relatively quiet place just to read or discuss off-campus where you don’t have to pay through the nose. These days I think I'm living in a glitzy-glam corporate park, alternating with feeling like a lab rat in a social engineering experiment (well, Singapore has always had that lab-rat feeling, I must admit).<br /><br />4. An unnecessary reduplication of effort: NUS is already doing as good of a job as Yale probably ever could in the social sciences and humanities sphere for this particular setting, and the other major universities here have much to offer as well. Singapore students can go out, and non-Singaporean students can come in. Really, Yale, what’s the point?</p><br /></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-61088694874021568442010-10-20T23:58:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:07.942+08:00Will Alan Shadrake verdict affect Yale's plan to set up a college in Singapore?<p><span style="font-size: 12px;">Singaporean prosecutors on Wednesday <a target="_blank" href="http://news.ph.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4408504" target="_blank">wrapped up their case against Alan Shadrake</a>, the 75-year-old British writer charged with contempt of court after publishing a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2638&Itemid=195" target="_blank">book</a> critical of the use of the death penalty in the city-state.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">Judge Quentin Loh is expected to issue his verdict next week and, if found guilty, Shadrake could be facing a jail sentence as well as a fine.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">The case has been followed closely by the small community of civil society activists in Singapore, as evidenced by the extensive reports on <a target="_blank" href="http://theonlinecitizen.com/" target="_blank">The Online Citizen</a>, a popular citizen journalism website.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">But international eyes are also on Singapore.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">Yale University is in the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1086415/1/.html" target="_blank">final stages</a> of discussions with the National University of Singapore to set up a "liberal arts college" in a state <a target="_blank" href="../the-asia-file/an-insider-s-view-of-academic-censorship-in-singapore" target="_blank">not exactly famed for its promotion of academic freedom</a>.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">A number of Yale academics have <a target="_blank" href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/10/12/singapore" target="_blank">kicked up a stink</a> about the deal, which they fear will boost the university's coffers at the expense of its reputation for independent academic inquiry.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">In a <a target="_blank" href="http://opa.yale.edu/media/pdf/YNC-Prospectus-2010-09.pdf" target="_blank">prospectus</a> designed to reassure weary dons, Yale's president and provost say they were "greatly concerned" by the arrest of Shadrake.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">"This gave us reason to inquire even more deeply to understand how free faculty and students would be to express themselves in scholarly publications, in the classroom and on campus," they wrote.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;">Presumably, they will be eager to see what transpires next week before concluding their talks.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-35728522207839367122010-10-17T23:52:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:07.930+08:00Facebook fights back against Vietnam block<p>Facebook is battling back against the Vietnamese government's block on the social networking website by looking to recruit a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/careers/department.php?dept=growth&req=120391038017470" target="_blank">Policy and Growth Manager for Vietnam</a> who will "lead the company’s interactions with policymakers and will be responsible for ensuring the site’s accessibility".</p><br /><p>The successful candidate, who will be based in Hanoi, "will be able to communicate effectively in both English and Vietnamese and have experience in government relations work and navigating government agencies along with an extensive network of contacts in the government and the technology space."</p><br /><p>One of their key responsibilities will be to "monitor legislation and regulatory matters in states affecting Facebook and advise company with respect to policy challenges."</p><br /><p>Although the Vietnamese Facebook block <a target="_blank" href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/vietnam/100928/facebook-internet-china-press-freedom" target="_blank">is relatively easy for those with a little nous to circumvent</a>, here's the full text of the job ad on the Facebook website for those who can't access it:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>Manager, Policy and Growth – Contract (Vietnam)<br />Facebook is seeking a Policy & Growth Manager for Vietnam, who is passionate about Facebook and has a background in technology or social media, business strategy and legislative and regulatory matters. The ideal candidate will be able to communicate effectively in both English and Vietnamese and have experience in government relations work and navigating government agencies along with an extensive network of contacts in the government and the technology space. The candidate should have experience in developing a growth strategy that involves creating coalitions and communicating with policymakers across the government. The position will require someone to be entrepreneurial in nature, resourceful, flexible and bring an intensity of focus to the project. The Growth Managers at Facebook and will lead the company’s interactions with policymakers and will be responsible for ensuring the site’s accessibility as well as driving user acquisition programs, identifying growth opportunities that help with the distribution of the Facebook brand online and offline and adding value to the Facebook user experience. The position will be based in Hanoi but some travel around Vietnam will be required as needed. This is a 12 months based contract position.</p><br /><p>Responsibilities<br />• Lead outreach to data protection authorities, other regulators and policy makers<br />• Monitor legislation and regulatory matters in states affecting Facebook and advise company with respect to policy challenges<br />• Represent Facebook in meetings with the national government and elected officials<br />• Explore, identify and evaluate strategic growth opportunities<br />• Influence and improve the Facebook experience of users in Vietnam by identifying product / market fit gaps<br />• Provide market insights – identify and monitor strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats relevant for Facebook’s adoption in Vietnam<br />• Be an advocate for developers and users in Vietnam</p><br /><p>Requirements<br />• Fluent in English and Vietnamese<br />• Interest in emerging technologies and public policy issues<br />• Superb written and oral communications skills<br />• Strategic thinker and planner<br />• Performance driven<br />• Self motivated , entrepreneurial in nature and comfortable in ambiguous situations<br />• Proven track record with high standards of professionalism Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to develop strong working relationships inside and outside Facebook<br />• Creative, resourceful, detail-oriented, and highly organized<br />• Ability to meet multiple objectives in an entrepreneurial environment with little supervision<br />• Extensive experience dealing with policymakers and industry groups<br />• Prior experience working in a high-growth or startup technology company preferred</p><br /></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-39850185684414846592010-10-17T14:07:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:07.911+08:00Warning: You must be over 160cm to enter this diplomatic service<p>In many diplomatic services around the world, women meet a glass ceiling as they climb the departmental ladder. In Vietnam, it's more like a glass ruler.</p><br /><p>Two very able female graduates of Vietnam's Diplomatic Academy told me they were unable to join the foreign ministry because they were under the 160cm minimum height requirement.</p><br /><p>Vietnam's diplomacy has certainly risen in stature over the last year, with the government deftly using its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to force the South China Sea disputes onto the international agenda.</p><br /><p>But, I'm not convinced that the best way to ensure that Vietnam continues to grow on the world stage is to exclude women under 160cm, who make up no small proportion of the population.</p><br /><p>Given that Vietnam always provides a cohort of smiling, ao dai-clad dolly birds to impress foreign officials at international events, why is the ministry so concerned about the height of its female diplomats?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-89903375141915486802010-10-14T00:59:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:07.891+08:00US defence secretary Robert Gates gets a military welcome in Hanoi<p>While traveling around Hanoi with US defence secretary Robert Gates' entourage on Monday, I took the following video of the Vietnamese army welcoming him to a meeting at the Ministry of National Defence with his Vietnamese counterpart, General Phung Quang Thanh.</p><br /><p>It was quite something to see Vietnamese soldiers playing the Star-Spangled Banner and to watch Gates inspecting the honour guard escorted by a goose-stepping officer. </p><br /><p><br /><object width="640" height="385" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/qFKS2DqC3SE?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><br /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qFKS2DqC3SE?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0" /><br /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><br /></object><br /></p><br /><p>Gates was in town for the a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ac600588-d4fa-11df-ad3a-00144feabdc0.html" target="_blank">big meeting of Asia Pacific defence ministers</a>.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-71916689103814597652010-10-10T18:58:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:07.878+08:00A low key protest by banned group in Hanoi<p><strong>UPDATE - Monday 08:00 - Viet Tan </strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.viettan.org/spip.php?article10403" target="_blank"><strong>says</strong></a><strong> that the Australian Vietnamese woman mentioned below, who seemed to be leading the protest, was arrested on Sunday evening. I have no independent confirmation of this. There is now a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1590446.php/Vietnam-arrests-anti-China-protestor">DPA story</a> on the arrest.</strong></p><br /><p>Yesterday, I observed a protest in Hanoi by the banned <a target="_blank" href="http://www.viettan.org/spip.php?article10393" target="_blank">Viet Tan</a> group - or Vietnam Reform Party - which was low key in terms of the number of participants and the immediate police response.</p><br /><p>A handful of overseas Vietnamese Viet Tan members gave out t-shirts and caps in a central Hanoi park, while calling on the government to stand up to Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. (See reports by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1590199.php/Vietnamese-opposition-protests-against-Chinese-aggression" target="_blank">DPA</a>, the German press agency, and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAAVFVt5dfZXA7yIKoLLmhbkHC-gD9IONKOO0?docId=D9IONKOO0" target="_blank">AP</a>)</p><br /><p>There were several dozen local onlookers but it was unclear who were supporters of Viet Tan and who were simply bemused Hanoians - it's not everyday that you see political protests in a country where little dissent is tolerated. For obvious reasons, Hong Vu, the Australian Vietnamese who seemed to be doing most of the talking, was reluctant to say how many local supporters were present.</p><br /><p>The Vietnamese government calls the US-based group a terrorist organisation, although Viet Tan insists it only believes in promoting peaceful change.</p><br /><p>Although the surrounding area was amply supplied with police - the protest took place just behind one of the main stages were Hanoi's millennial celebrations have been taking place - there was no immediate reaction.</p><br /><p>Once the blue t-shirt-clad Viet Tan members had headed off in a hurry and the small crowd has dispersed, a policeman did come around looking to confiscate some of the t-shirts they had given out.</p><br /><p>Apparently, a similar unauthorised Viet Tan event earlier this year, when overseas Vietnamese gave out t-shirts and caps to an obliging Vietnamese public (if only because they like free gear rather than because they share the political messages), was also met with a relatively hands-off response.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349632196064141356.post-61235715127515656212010-10-09T19:20:00.000+08:002011-01-06T22:30:07.865+08:00The universality of terrible customer service<p>I have been scouting around Hanoi for my first smartphone and have been very disappointed with the level of customer service.</p><br /><p>Given that most of these phones sell for more than the average monthly wage, it ought to take some pretty good sales advice to convince people to part with their hard-earned cash.</p><br /><p>But not a bit of it. Having visited about 15 mobile phone shops, not one assistant could explain the pros and cons of different makes/models.</p><br /><p>A Vietnamese friend, who was helping me to translate (my Vietnamese is still more, erm, conversational than technical), noted that these shops were effectively pushing eager customers away.</p><br /><p>Just as my frustration began to boil over - and I started wondering if the ineffectual customer service was linked to the fact that Vietnam has yet to really open its retail sector up to foreign competition despite its World Trade Organization obligations - I realised that the Vietnamese mobile phone shopping experience was not particularly exceptional.</p><br /><p>You get the same muppets working in these shops everywhere.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0