Thứ Ba, 28 tháng 12, 2010

My very final assignment of UCHANU 2010


"What did I learn about development this semester, about how development relates to Vietnam, and about how development relates to me?"  

Introduction
Since the Doi Moi (Rennovation) in 1986 and especially these recent years, “development” has become one of the most popularly mentioned term in Vietnam. Other than being cited merely in terms of economic affairs, it also refers to changes in many different aspects, including economic, social, political, and cultural sides. The rationale is that those aspects are closely related and interdependent. Thus, the rapid development performance of Vietnam in the economic side these years[1] has brought up many changes in the other aspects, both positively and negatively. In this paper, I will focus on the cultural development of Vietnam in accordance with the commonly defined “development” in our society. In particular, the paper will reveal the effects of development on the traditionally cultural values of Vietnam. There will be some specific examples and comparison among the case of different areas of Vietnam whose levels of development are varied.

Theory
It becomes easier and easier to say that development is a good term which is desirable in every society. This term is often mentioned to appreciate the attempt of a country’s government to develop the national economy and the world standing of the country. However, sharing the same situation as the other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam is also developing another stream of ideas called “alternative visions of development” alongside with the existing mainstream.

Table 1: Mainstream versus alternative visions of development (J. Rigg, p.46)
Mainstream development                                              Alternative development
1. Treats people as “objects” of development              1. Treats people as “subjects” of development        
2. Applies exogenous theories and methods                 2. Applies endogenous theories and methods
3. Top down                                                              3. Participatory
4. Interested in ends of development                           4. Interested in means and ends of development
5. Concerned with practicalities                                  5. Concerned with ethical and moral issues as
                                                                             well as practicalities
6. Applies modern technology                                     6. Applies “appropriate”, sometimes
                                                                             “intermediate”, technology
7. Undertaken with full support of the state                 7. Bypasses the state, and is sometimes anti-state
8. Increases the role of market in people’s lives           8. Sometimes aims to decrease the role of market    and promote self-reliance
9. Centralizing                                                           9. Decentralizing
10.   Stresses the empirical                                          10. Stresses the cultural

According to this, with an alternative conception of development, people tend to think of this term from different dimensions, both positively and negatively. Development has no longer been a perfectly positive innovation of the society which indicates the improvement in many aspects. To the other extent, it reveals to be a negative force which may bring different drawbacks. One of the hottest issues related to this is the lost of many traditionally cultural values during the process of economic development.

Differences - Experiences and examples
Since the rice harvesting time in Dong Anh, we have witnessed and discovered a recent trend happening in the countryside of Vietnam, especially in the suburb of a fast-developing Hanoi. People are now heading for non-farming activities other than doing farming as traditional. Almost 50 per cent of Xuan Trach villagers have changed to jobs like factory workers, paper makers, sellers in the market in central Hanoi, electricians, or shop sellers. They are seeking for another way to earn a better living and leading their children to the urban area by encouraging them to learn and find a job in Hanoi. In other words, farming work is now losing its importance in the priority work agenda of people. Changing from an agriculture-based community to an industry or service-based community means that the customs and the habits of those people are changing as well. In the past, when doing farming, people had to depend on each other and live more closely together in a village. Therefore, communication and interaction among villagers are more frequent and their relations are warmer. Turning back to these days, when people have more chances to earn money, they put themselves in a busier routine. Communication is reduced due to a lack of free time. People tend to live more individualistic and focus almost on their own benefits rather than a traditional community-based benefit. However, in my opinion, since there has been not much industrialization and commercialization in this area (the other 50 per cent of all villagers still do farming), this village still keeps some core values in its traditional culture. The common pond and the village gate are the most obvious evidences for a typical Vietnamese village with its own cultural values.

The fact that different levels of development leading to different levels of effects on traditional culture can be proven more clearly by comparing the culture of communication in a poor commune of Ha Giang, in the Old Quarter of central Hanoi and in a new-built luxurious Ciputra to the Northern of Hanoi. I have just spent 3 weeks doing research in Nam Dich Commune, Ha Giang Province – a mountainous area inhabited almost by ethnic minorities like Tay, Nung, H’mong, Man, etc. In comparison with Hanoi and other more developed province in Vietnam, this area can be seen as “backward” and “underdeveloped”. Almost all residents are subsistence farmers. Because there are not too many families in the nearby villages, they know each other very well. In periods in between crop seasons, they have more spare time to visit each other’s house to have tea, talk, or even have lunch or dinner together. During the time I stayed there, I found it very interesting to see that it becomes a custom in that area when neighbors gather in a house and drink wine, eating something and chitchatting. Everyone is really nice with their friendliness, hospitality and generosity despite their poverty.

Let’s see what happens in the Old Quarter these days. Almost every house is a shop selling different things, traditional or non-traditional. Close neighbors still know each other and sometimes, they gather and talk but rarely come and have a meal together as warmly as in the above example. Even worse, they tend to “gossip” rather than just chitchatting for fun and compete with each other in the market. Then it comes to jealousy, prejudice and even abhorrence in their relations. Individualism in communication culture and in daily life is more evident.

The case in even more interesting in a newly-built luxurious Ciputra. We had spent an afternoon walking around in Ciputra to map this area and interestingly found out that on big roads, there were only cars moving and guards wandering. We had to walk a lot in order to find one or two residents there. In general, it is really quiet, fresh and clean. We asked an old lady on her way home about whether she knew her neighbors well and received her answer that, people living there almost concerned about themselves and their family. They are too busy to care about others. Thus, she does not know any neighbor well. They are easy to ignore the others. Apparently, individualism is a feature and a part of this area.

Taking into account those three cases about only one aspect – the amount of interaction and communication among neighbors – it is obvious that the more developed and richer people get, the less time they spend on communicating with their neighbors, thus the less warm their relations are. The traditional culture of communication has changed to different extent depending on how developed the society is.

There is another typical example about the effect of development on traditional cultural values. It comes to the case of spiritual actions of ethnic minorities groups versus science development. When the government carries campaigns to develop a local area, they often suppose that the spiritual actions of some ethnic minorities (shamanism) are superstitious and backward, trying to use science to explain. Then they tend to encourage the locals to use new technological and scientific achievements in doing farming, curing diseases and controlling the nature. This is more obvious when a group of Kinh people came to this area several decades ago with the ideal intension to help ethnic minorities people develop the commune. This approach of the government, to some extents, has cleared some of the traditional ritual values of those ethnic minorities while there is still not enough evidence to prove that all those ritual actions are ineffective. For example, when I asked a villager in Nam Dich commune about a potential prevention measure for erosion and landslides in the rainy season, she brought up the idea of inviting a shaman to carry out ritual actions and according to her, there has been a lot of evidences to prove its effectiveness. Indeed, there are still things that cannot be explained by the scientific knowledge of the human beings. In this example, the so-called “development” achieved by the government has gradually demolished the traditionally cultural values of the local people.

 Conclusions
Development can be seen as obviously as the blur of many traditional values in Vietnamese culture. It comes to the question of how to develop sustainably and alternatively, i.e. developing in various aspects at the same time with preserving core values and considering possible consequences. This might not be meaningful for the change in mind of an individual, but many individuals will create a difference.

Talking about my personal understanding about development this semester compared to that in the time before, there are not many changes but rather difference in depth. It is more difficult for me to see clearly the difference in my perceptions about Vietnam’s development in the sense that it is the country where I live and I know since I was born. The knowledge of mine has been shaped through years of education and my own exploration. Therefore, it is less possible to see the issue in an objective way other than the current subjective view. However, the theories and experiences I learnt in this course have provides me a deeper understanding about the things that are happening around me. I also see the difference between my perceptions of Vietnam’s development and that of UC students who come from another country, another culture, and with different values in their mind. It helps sharpen my understanding as well. Thus, during the course, I tried to learn how to see a particular issue from various dimensions and put myself on the boots of others to see a broader picture. It is one of the most valuable achievements of mine this semester.



[1] Vietnam’s growth rate ranks 2nd in the world, exceeded only by China 

Thứ Ba, 30 tháng 11, 2010

3rd day in Nam Dich


This is the 3rd day that I am here in this village.

I woke up so early in the morning because of animals’ noises as well as the kids’ shouting and playing. However, it’s not as cold as yesterday morning at all and that makes me so comfortable. After changing the clothes, we gathered again around the fire and waiting for the breakfast silently. Nobody said a word but all feel the same… warm and lovely

I cannot imagine that they are so kind that they gave us the bowls of noodle with 2 eggs while theirs don’t have any, even the bowl of the little girl and boy. I cannot love them more!!!!!

We have a party at my house this afternoon. Always party and party! Playing MAFIA game together and got a lot of stuff to eat and drink, it was a small and simple party but it was very warm and fun. Poli showed to be very smart, Polina is smart and thoughtful, Ngoc Anh smiled all the time and poor my Ninh to be “killed” even she was not the “Mafia”. Haha. It was a lot of fun memories, I should say.

I always have headache during these time due to the big changes in the temperature. It is really really cold at night and in the early morning but can be very very hot in daytime. It’s annoying!! Except for this headache, everything is nice for me. I live a healthy routine every day, get up early in the morning and go to bed early, too. I walk a lot from our house to the other and to the market. I have a lot of vegetables and rice. I don’t work as much as I often do in Hanoi, just play and discover things. Hope that I can gain some more weight. Haha. I’d love to!!!! I’m just afraid that my headache would destroy my entire attempt to be fatter and healthier.

-          Going to pee in the commune hospital’s toilet

-          Liveshow at home with Tay songs, Vietnamese songs, and English songs:P

-          Chatting with Wietske as sisters:x

I’m almost ill now… but still happy^0^

Day 2 in Nam Dich Commune

As I promised, I'll post some of my diary stories when I was in Nam Dich Commune, Ha Giang to do research. Here comes the 2nd day. I really want to bring you, the readers, a full picture of Nam Dich through my eyes, my exprience and my heart.

THE 2ND DAY OF MINE IN NAM DICH COMMUNE
This was the second day I was in Nam Dich Commune and in the 9th village in particular. It was such a miracle here, I swear.

It’s really cold, you can’t imagine, here in Nam Dich at night and in the early morning before the sun rise. But it turns much warmer, even hotter in the late morning and afternoon. Very sunny and hot. So strange is the weather!

It’s almost very quiet and fresh here. I love the small road leading to uphill, the trees which can be seen everywhere. I love the stream with cold water but looks like a beautiful valley. I love the small and simple market where the sellers are minority people and they are franker than in the city. I will remember the toilet here, because you can pee everywhere you want normally, except for the garden behind the house (they believe that if you do so in the back garden, the “GHOST” will kill all the animals in their house, then kill them too>.<). I will never forget the “CRYING GHOST” and the “TOMB HILL” that Mr Manh told me, just some meters far from our house. You can hear the crying sound at night in the middle night of January. Haha. Who wanna see that????? NOT ME absolutely!!!!

People are really really nice and friendly. They see us, talk with us, take care of us, cook meals for us just like we are 2 family members. I and Wietske stay together in Mr Manh’s house. There are 2 little kids here and his wife is such a typical traditional wife-very gentle, nice and hard working. She is a good cook who makes every simple thing become delicious though it’s not really good looking. Haha.

I was drunk after this lunch because they wanted us to drink with them. I couldn’t find any reason to refuse, actually. Oh my God, the wine is really strong, it’s spicy and bitter but it’s quite sweet after that. Anyway, I couldn’t drink much, just 2 or 3 cups almost made me drunk. And I got serious headache after that, even after a short nap, I didn’t feel that drunk but still hurt, esp when it got colder at night.

But then I had a little party at Hang’s house with all the other guys. It was nice then, we gathered together and chatted the whole afternoon before going home. I love my friends so much!!!!Ohhhh

I and Wietske had come up with a topic after a short discussion. I think it’s an interesting research topic here because I see it in almost every family here. Hope that it would be appreciated and supported by the local residents in this commune and we can do it successfully@!@ DONE! The first assignment, haha. GREAT WORK my buddy! Love you so much!!!!

Oh, then after dinner, we had an appointment to visit Huyen’s house and the host family. They are really nice, just as everybody here very welcome us. They are friendly, sweet and really kind. I love the moment that all of us gathered around the fire and talk to each other. Actually I was drunk again!!! I had refused them a thousand time but they still find all reasons to persuade us to drink with them. It seems that everybody of them can drink and drinking is just like a habit. A drunk village and a drunk family! I like such comfortable and peaceful life coz it shows a warm atmosphere in the family and among neighbors. But not in that way, drinking. Haha. Just because I cannot drink that much!!!! The headache came to me again even though my dear Wietske had given me an aspirin. It couldn’t help much due to so much wine I had to drink. Haizzz

I texted my friend sometimes and told him about the situation here. He just told me that it was really fun for having such activities, including drinking like that and taking a bath outside. Haha. He cannot imagine I guess. Anyway, the only thing I agree with him is that it’s extremely wonderful to stay here for some days like this. I love my decision to join this course (though I still have a lot of things to worry and to do now because I couldn’t finish all my stuff of work when I am here. Haizzzzz)!!!! I’ll never forget this time.

Ok, that’s all for today… I gonna have a nice dream tonight. We gonna go to the SUNDAY MARKET tomorrow, that would be so much fun I hope!!!!!! G9

Thứ Tư, 10 tháng 11, 2010

Packing up for Ha Giang field course

We will leave Hanoi for Ha Giang this Thursday morning. Honestly I cannot care about the stuff that I will need in nearly 3 weeks far from my Hanoi. This is the most busy time I've had this semester, when I have to fulfill all the assignment required before leaving, take any chance to attend classes in my second major, rush to at least finish the basic tasks in my internship, and find a motivation to do all those things with happiness.

I'll bring there in my luggage a report  for Financial System, a presentation for Human Resource Management, and some other assignments. I'll bring there my Hanoi in songs...

Eager to see how Ha Giang is different from Hanoi:D Uhm, I'll write diary and tell you all the story that I experience in this mountainous and undeveloped area. Hope that it would be fun!!!!


Thứ Bảy, 30 tháng 10, 2010

Sad angel - Igor Krutoi - Brought up an ever happy angel



All those things are just the simpliest things in our daily life, but because they are so normal, not many people notice that trace of life. Everything is interconnected, just like the eyes of Igor just moved along with the look of this girl to a dog whose boss is looked by a street cleaner, this couple to the other single miss, this miss to a theft, this theft to a man and then an angry woman, this angry woman to a street clown who makes her become ever happy... Just take a look at what is happening arround you, you can explore a nice story ever:x No need to find a happiness from somewhere else far away, it's life in you and right beside you.

This song is named "sad angel" but when I listen to it, I feel like it has brought up an ever happy angel in me.

Thứ Hai, 25 tháng 10, 2010

UCHANU

I suddenly realize that UCHANU course has been in the other half of time and that we have only 6 weeks to go. Peter will stay in Hanoi for a longer time but Tina will leave soon in 12 December. This made me so bad.....

UCHANU did have a great time together, in classes, games, and in some field trips. We did share a lot of things and we are like brothers and sisters even though we are from different cultures. I feel like we have ever met before and it is just our destiny to be here in UCHANU.

UCHANU is having more activities and time together, to understand each other and explore Vietnam in different aspects. I like it! Even I am Hanoian and Vietnamese, I've almost never pay so much attention to those little things. I've learnt to think differently, in my friends' way. I discovered so many meaningful things in life and around me. Maybe you guys, from the eyes of a foreigner who comes to Vietnam for the first time, see the different things from our view on familiar things. I really appreciate it in this course.


Tina is so cute, just like my little sister. We share many habits and interests, I dont know why. But I know that I have given her my real love. Thank you Gerard and chi Moc to let me and Tina be buddies. It was the first thing that I will remember most in this course.

Every party has to come to an end, I know. I'll spend most time left to know my friends, to share and to learn together, enjoy together. I recall the song "Qui sera, sera", what comes will come, yes, I'll not have to think about saying goodbye when I still have 6 golden weeks to go. I love you guys so much!!!!!!




Thứ Hai, 18 tháng 10, 2010

Hà Giang - The highest upland of Vietnam

We are going to have a field trip to Ha Giang for 3 weeks and work on a minor project about the development of this area. My interest when applying to this course is about the non-farming activities of the residents here and their roles in contributing to the living standards of the residents. I also want to explore about the crafts in Ha Giang and their potential to develop. I've search something about Ha Giang and the Meo Vac district where we will spend almost the time there and do research. And I find those things are quite interesting and helpful to reveal a whole picture of Ha Giang:


Hà Giang is a highly mountainous region, and travel around the province can be difficult. Much of the province is too mountainous for agriculture, leaving much of the land covered by forests. Hà Giang’s central plateau is good for growing plums, peaches, and persimmons, which the province exports. Tea is also grown.  Farming economy is also getting a boost with growing oranges and mandarin trees as its sustains many households with the income in the range of VND 150 to 200 million a year. Cultivated area of soybean cultivation (high yield type with yield of 750 kg per ha) has increased to 7,900 hectares (20,000 acres).

Hà Giang is one of the poorest provinces of Vietnam. Traditionally, the vast majority of its economic activity revolved around agriculture and forestry. However, in recent years, there have been attempts to establish a manufacturing industry. Infrastructure in Hà Giang has seen improvement, but remains poor - roads, schools, and health services are less developed than in many other parts of Vietnam.

Ha Giang Province also has large areas of green tea, apart from terraced rice fields. The Province has particularly assisted people in developing tea industry with financial (soft loans) and technical support in operations (sowing, tending, gathering and processing). This has resulted in increase in the yield from 9,625 tonnes in 1995 to 20,394 tonnes in 2002. Particular tea plantations of quality tea are the Shan Tuyet strain in the Lung Phin in Dong Van District and Nam La in Yen Minh District. Ha Giang tea is not only popular in domestic market but also in foreign markets

The province is rich minerals; 149 mines with 28 categories of minerals are spread in all districts of the province. Mineral deposits explored in the province are: Antimony, iron ore, manganese, ferrite, zinc, tin, copper, bauxite, gold, gemstones, kaolin and mineral water. These are contributing to industrial development in the province. Plans have been put in place, with appropriate policies to attract direct foreign investments in the province; China, South Korea, Thailand and other countries have already chipped in with investments in the mining and processing industries and the anticipated growth rate of achievement is pegged at 20%. Asian Development Bank also provided loans of USD 3 million to promote tea industry in the province.

As Hà Giang is a mountainous region, the population is not large, and the majority of inhabitants are ethnic Vietnamese. The remainder are Thổ, Hmong, Tay, Dao, Mán, Nung, Giấy and Lô Lô. The majority engage in ancestor and spirit worship.

Some of the economic indicators, according to the General Statistics Office of the Government of Vietnam are: The population of Yên Bái province as on 2008 was 705,100 with a density of 89 persons per sqkm over a total land area of 7,945.8 square kilometres (3,067.9 sq mi) of the province. It is one of the least populated provinces in the Northern midlands and mountain areas of Vietnam. The male population during this period was 346,900 with females accounting for 358200. The rural population was 625,500 against an urban population of 79,600 (about 7% of the rural population).

As against the national figure of 273 Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery cooperatives there are 32 cooperatives in the province, of which 22 are agricultural cooperatives and eight are fisheries cooperatives. The number of cooperatives is 32 as against 7592 cooperatives in the country. There are only 169 farms in the province as against the national number of 120699.

The Output value of agriculture produce at constant 1994 prices in the province was 838.4 billion đồngs against the national value of 156681.9 bill. dongs. The province produced 280,300 tonnes of cereals as against the national production of 43.58 million tonnes.

The per capita production of cereals in the district was 397.5 kg as against the national figure of 501.8 kg. in 2007. In 2007, the industrial output of the province was a meagre 526.1 bill. dongs against the national output of 1.47 million Bhilldongs. However, there is cement plant with capacity of 300,000 tons per year that was established recently.