Vietnam: First Impressions

A musical side of globalization...


If there's one thing that gives me hope, it's got to be this. What a great juxtaposition--younger generations of Vietnamese skating and breakdancing under statue of Lenin. Children in bumper-car-like toys zigzagging each other, full of mirth and energy while their parents chat among themselves. Only certain county summer festivals in the states resemble interactions in the park here. But the locals utilize this space everyday because public parks are so rare.

The scene captures the state of transition, of the Vietnamese younger generation's Western influence, specifically the hip hop culture. It feels incredible to actually witness it. What really makes my day is catching a teenage girl doing an ollie. WHOAAA! My jaws dropped. That's the most bad-ass kodak moment of my day--I really hate that submissive-proper-Vietnamese-woman crap. For me the moment she pop that board, she slam a bit of herself into the walls of patriarchy. Walls that snakes further than the Great Wall or any other fucking wall til the end of time. Ancient walls that are much harder to penetrate and break. Walls to infinity. Walls of invisibility. Wall that seems to seeps under your skin like the constant scorching heat, always there, until one day you just accept it and you internalized it as a way of life. I begin to see the walls inside people and walls around people. Funny how the external world--buildings, public spaces or the lack of, seems to reflect so much of our internal world. The reason i bring my skateboard to vietnam is to preserve my sanity or of whatever is left. I refuse to fall under the traditional expectations of a womyn even if others might look at it as "you should appreciate or respect the culture" or "it's mess up but that's just the way it is". that is not going to cut it. It's tough being a womyn, especially here.

Bombarded with so much information, there are so many things i need to think over. Is this whole globalization business with its promise of wealth really healthy for the current state of vietnam? the people i see actually benefiting from this is the wealthy or the people in power. on second thought, foreign investment companies, and their whole chain of employees. or what seems to be everyone else but the marginalized. Is globalization another euphemism for neocolonialism? there are no guns, no soldiers, no fire, but there is so much casualty. in the ponds filled with trash, in the dusty air, in the displaced farmers from their land. i rather have the old colonization where the solutions are costly, but tangible. just revolt and kick them out. but this new globalization is psychological. so far i've seen so much cars in the street, and so much fashion boutiques with Western brand. I'm cautiously glad to enjoy Western influence in the development sector because it indicates the political transformation of the communist government. at the same time, it's a bit troubling to hear such revere for Western goods and people. it is almost de ja vu, with its hints of internalized oppression. how the hell are people going to decolonize themselves from something so closely tied with promises for modernization. the very idea that modernization is necessary is absurd. to declare modernization, you must have something to compare to. one country fits the standard therefore it is developed, cleaner, better--superior. one country falls out of this standard, so it is undeveloped--substandard. but who really gets a say in determining what is the "standard"? where is the human factor in this equation? maybe i am over-romanticizing the past, but there is something powerful in the simple ways of life. i need some reaffirmation from the countryside farmers or the locals that sometimes you don't need all this materials to be happy. will giant corporations swallow those mom-and-pop businesses? what interesting concepts: to live where you work, to stress more about enjoying life than profiting from your business. i shouldn't even say it's "business," that in itself suggests profit-over-people mentality. for them, i would imagine it as a way to past the times and put food on the table. but i don't know how this materialism malaise have spread. it's not like i can take a ruler and measure it. how do u measure greed? desire? hopelessness? the effects of poverty?

but i also see so much joy and resilience in the Vietnamese people. so much tình cảm. people here seems so much closer to each other than in the states. neighbors actually know each other. some people are extremely kind, while others will rip you off. but if i know if i come back as a regular and talk to them, things will change. i'm looking forward to knowing the locals and their stories. ah crap, my titles seems to never match what im thinking. oh well.