Time heals all wounds.
It also ushers in a generation, now in high school and college.
Here in Vietnam, students have classes on Saturdays and even Sundays.
Kids of all ages, in uniforms or out of, but always with a backpack, riding on wheels of all types: bikes, electric bikes, scooters, sedans, and
buses.
They shop at night markets where there are food stalls, snacks stalls and magazine stalls.
Life in the fast lane (the only time I slow down is when I jaywalk across a busy street).
I have tried to put Vietnam in a box, but so far it’s been in vain: not scooter nation, not helmet nation, not multi-tasker nation.
I know one clear difference between life here vs in the US: your survival instinct better kicks in quick (Maslow‘s basic need).
Because it’s noisy, dusty and hot, people want to cocoon themselves in A/C cul-de-sacs.
Common use of language also helps people cope: “choi” (play aspect) is inserted in every other sentence: “choi troi”, “choi chu”, “choi noi”, “choi luon” (upstage, wordy, flashy and go all the way).
Give Vietnam some time.
It will soon get to be a nation of 100 million, whose population is evenly distributed in a bell shape.
The UN person, Mehta, warned Vietnam about the “middle-income trap”.
They have seen it happen with Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The trends are there for Vietnam to grow. Next step is to harness growth to produce desired outcomes. It’s not accidental that the former leader of Singapore was invited to speak here quite often.
He knew a thing or two about realizing a nation’s dream.
Maybe all we need is time. Some watch trains go by, all of their lives. Watching and wondering how others met and make it last. (courtesy of Stephen Bishop).
Thang Nguyen 555 