Tag: Statue of Liberty

Delayed recriprocity

The National Cherry Blossom Parade in the Nation’s Capital.  Washington Monument with cherry blossom in the foreground: picture perfect.

Newly arrived immigrants learned that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French (who coincidentally lead the Libyan incursion this time), and cherry trees, gifts from the government of Japan (twice, before and after WWII).

And so it goes, like the world map sold here, always with the US in the middle as hub of the global world. Everybody came from somewhere else. Hence, the US is involved in everyone’s affairs, often at the exclusion and expenses of its own e.g. (loan to Libyan Central Bank, no tax to GE and a lot of aid to Pakistan, cash to Afghans). Incidentally, it’s Lady Bird who planted those cherry trees the second time around, while her husband was complaining about his forced choice for a war abroad (Vietnam) over his pet project (Great Society) at home.

This time, Washington is more careful when asked by the French to join in a foreign incursion. Limited engagement, and no boots on the ground (Lybia).

Everyone feels like there are two stories competing: Japan’s radiation level and French-led Libya‘s no-fly zone (two huge stories which drove Terry Jones completely mad for attention! I’m gonna burn more Korans if you don’t send a camera crew).

This Saturday, as the nation celebrates Spring time (kids on daddy’s shoulders for a better view of high-school cheer leaders etc…_), let’s be reminded that long ago, the mayor of Tokyo was extending a nice gesture by sending a lasting State-to-State gift to adorn this nation.

My first impression of Washington was formed from those pictures of the Cherry Blossom Parade, including that shot of cherry branches in the foreground with the monument in the background. It’s enduring and eternal (nature’s intangible beauty vs man’s concrete monument).

Now, it’s Japan that needs Washington to reciprocate as it failed to contain its nuclear power plants. There isn’t enough room to store contaminated water. So the Pacific once again becomes dumping ground for oil. Mother Nature takes it all in. And every Spring, she shows us once again the rhythm of life – Spring eternal. Without knowing its future, Japan by a small gesture, initiated a virtuous cycle. I am sure leaders in Washington won’t forget to help victims of the quake as they enjoy the Parade adorned by and centered around those trees , gifts from quakeland. If you can lend money to Libya, you can certainly spare some change for the elderly who are now in line to get instant noodle at high-school-turned-refugee-shelters in Sendai. Delayed reciprocity.

Eroded confidence

Huffington is coming out with a book titled “Third World America”.

As she makes the case for America’s shrinking middle-class, I can’t help notice a striking contrast with Vietnam (Third World which wants to become America), whose nascent credit (system) and (middle) class are almost non-existent.

Yet it made the top list of World Happiness Index despite years of war and post-war hardship.

I reminded myself that I need to learn as much as possible to unlock the secret code.

Ignorance is bliss?

In the absence of plenty, everything tastes sweeter. (Hershey is coming out with a new line of chocolate made of pure cocoa from the Mekong Delta region).

I learned that simple-minded people from the country are content with enough to eat, and spend the rest of their time with and for others (similar findings here in the US purported that beyond $75,000 wage earners aren’t  that much happier, unless they found happiness in giving).

Whatever the joint formula of regional, historical and cultural factors, some possible take-aways are:

– sharing is a must (in the context of extended families and selected circle of friends)

– having  high regards for one’s self (Hanoi xe-om drivers wear a suit in Winter time). This point might seem contradictory to point number 1, but

each Vietnamese thinks he/she is better than the person next to him/her. Sharing enhances their status even more, hence point 1 reinforces point 2.

– working with a simpler definition of joy (similar to “Last Train Home” film about a Chinese country couple trying to get home to visit their children having been working in factory all year), which is relationship-oriented, and not materialistic (60+ percent of Vietnamese population still make their living in agriculture i.e. at the mercy of typhoons etc…).

Here, the US, in the aftermath of 9/11, is still trying to undo the harms done by that hideous act, by over-reacting, hence given itself into the long hand of terror (Ted Koppel‘s article in Washington Post). Meanwhile, immigrants in LA protested a recent shooting near MacArthur Park.

A quote by a Guatemalan lady in the LA Times says it all ” I told them not to come, it’s not as good as it was before, but they still come”.

I hear the Statue of Liberty say one thing (come), and the Guatemalan lady say another (don’t come).

Huffington puts her fingers on the pulse: people put all their hope in the political process back in 2008 with the choice of Obama, who himself admitted at yesterday’s press conference that he was frustrated.

We read news about workers not taking their vacation (either they couldn’t afford time from work, or just want to make sure they hold on tight to their jobs).

Meanwhile, the day I was last in Vietnam happened to be a 4-day holiday. People went sightseeing in drove, and traffic in the city was visibly thinning down.

I realize the trade-off that comes with modernity (comfort and convenience but hefty price tag) . I doubt that “happy” people in the Mekong region will stay happy, once HappyLand is fully operable in Long An, a  HCMC city outskirt. With HappyLand come unintended consequences of modernization. Most damaging is the notion that one can manufacture anything, least of which Happiness and Confidence. The former Vietnam has, the latter, the US lacks.

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