Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

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With some short-term relief work in Asia/Africa and long stint in Telecom, Thang also earned a B.A. at Pennsylvania State University. M.A. in Communication at Wheaton Graduate School, M.A. in Cross-Cultural Communication at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Boston. In addition, he earned a CELTA – classes taken in Hanoi for cultural re-immersion.

Author: Thang Nguyen 555

  • (Shinning) House in the Alley

    Instead of a snow-bound scenario in a vacated hotel, we have  a newly-wed couple of  the House in the Alley The bloody ax, the shattering glass and the medium-rare steak. We were placed immediately inside a rain storm. That fateful night, like in Misery,  the first domino that starts a chain of mishaps: married sex life,…

  • Male vulnerability

    Behind the tatoo, the tobacco and the toughness, lies male vulnerability. I read about how the Watergate break-in was just one among a list of outrageous proposals such as kidnapping, wiretapping and high-priced hookers blackmail etc… You can’t find tougher looking bunch than those “plumbers” and their Archille’s heels. Yes, there is also female vulnerability.…

  • Saigon, smoke and smog

    You got to be stronger, you got to be wiser…. Cigarette companies are employing sales girls to peddle their tobacco here: buy two get a lighter etc… The girls, all well cast to fit the bill. Sampling a product, hooked for life. Best way to break in a market is via Direct Sales: Likeability, Commitment and…

  • Museum of Loss

    If you sneaked in the back street of Independence Palace here in Saigon, you would find  Cafe 30-4, named after that fateful day. Most of us have seen that 1975 tank-crashing-gate photo. But from the vantage point of the Cafe where I sat yesterday, I could only see people playing tennis and tourists walking about trying…

  • Saigon Tech Talent

    It could have been a waiting scene at Acoustics, Saigon Rock Alley. Except for the instruments and the bands. They were CEO’, CTO and Venture Capitalist. Not Bar Camp, nor Web Wednesday. It’s Mobile Monday, held on Thursday night. The cool, the calm and the co-ed. They were all there. Web to Mobile and back…

  • Rain and tears

    In the three months that I was in Vietnam, I have seen more rain and tears than 3 years in the US. When it rains, it pours. Then, it all of a sudden clears up. Branches and trees start to breathe and “branch out”. The tears’ part came from funerals that have a way to…

  • Clear-head

    When your mind is cluttered with unfinished business, you are not clear-headed. In our attention-starved world, spam and stimuli exacerbate this problem. No wonder it’s hard to reach mutual understanding and agreement. Best way is to nail down small and incremental wins to build up critical milestones. We tend to agree with those we already liked.…

  • Middle-Income Trap

    The phenomenon known as Middle-Income Trap is alive and well in SouthEast Asia. Not all boats rise with the water. Contentment sets in and gets in the way of progress. Countries like the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are  in this trap. From a global perspective, they could do better if getting over the hump. Yet…

  • Happy Monday

    Yes, one might feel Wonderful Tonight, but not the next morning, Monday that is. Unless, it’s a keeper. Passion doesn’t push it way in, since it’s intrinsic in nature. Yes, we are alloted only 24 hours a day. But some of us can connect the dots faster than others. Then there are those who can…

  • Microphone Sunday

    Yesterday I saw Mike from UK play Bieber-like and adoring This morning I managed to have him in front of the mike at Cafe Vuong Tron Inter-generational and inter-cultural Sunday coffee house at the outskirt of Saigon The featured singer would take a break and Mike went to the mike He just let go “Broken-hearted”…