Saturday, January 23, 2010

Viet Nam: We are one!

Why are we fighting for?

The video above shows the desire of a person who never have a chance to visit Viet Nam and wanting to see the country where he/she comes from. That person only see Viet Nam through pictures, heard about Viet Nam through books and people but never really have a chance to see Viet Nam with his/her own eyes. Its show how much we love Viet Nam and its people. Then why are we protesting against our own people when they want to visit the U.S. and expand their knowledge?

As states in the articles, people protested because they want to gain status, respect and such within the community (Valverde). The protesters usually are those old people from within the community that have been through the bloody war decades ago and yet cannot let go. You will notice many of them easily. They usually sitting in some of the Vietnamese plaza, scanning the Vietnamese newspaper trying to find little flaws to protest and actually have something to do.

I feel very very angry upon reading the article "Creating Identity, Defining Culture, and Making History from an Art Exhibit: 'Unfinished Story: A Tribute to My Mothers'." by Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde. As Valverde has shown in her article an example of a Vietnamese artist, Chau Huynh, being bombard by those protesters for creating an art piece, "Pedicure Basin," that meant dearly to her. But guess what, those people do not care about the meaning of the art piece. They clearly either do not understand art or too busy to care about the meaning than "judging the book by its cover." The protestor accusing Chau Huynh for "dirtying" the Vietnamese flag. What is so dirty about it? I am sorry but ART have no limitation. ART is creativity with no boundaries. Why do they have to stand in the middle of the way to stop ART?

I've seen these protest everywhere within my communities. I used to live in San Jose and these protest are everywhere. One of them as I recalled was the protest against Kim Loi Inc. for bringing singers from Viet Nam over to United States for concert. The protesters were there for days, carrying signs and post, and even a "scarecrow" of Ho Chi Minh! What is the point here? I do not know. Why is it bad for singers from Viet Nam to come to America to performs? I guess people are too close minded or been blinded because of the war to see pass history. If we say we love Viet Nam, proud to be Vietnamese than why fighting against our own people for? Why can't we forgive and forget and move on into the future?

I am really tired with all of these people. They make me feel ashamed to be a Vietnamese. Why are we making a fool of our self and exposing our flaws? As we say in Vietnamese "Vach ao cho nguoi xem lung?" Why can't we live in peace? They always say it is to stop "communist" from advancing but should they stop all the communist country and go protest to all of the people who coming to America from a communist country?

Why go outside and protest when you can stay at home and teaching your children and grandchildren Vietnamese cultures, languages to maintain tradition and cultures. Rather they chose to go protest, wasting times, resources, and leaving their children to become more Americanize and then go blame other people for it.

Just let go of the pass and move on already. Don't let us kids suffer from the fears that you all created and stop our creativity from advancing. They are just generating fears within the community so people cannot speak up. (Valverde)

Tu's out
Blog#4

Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline, 2008. "Creating Identity, Defining Culture, and Making History from an Art Exhibit: 'Unfinished Story: A Tribute to My Mothers'." Crossroads 19:2. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northen Illinois University.

"Vien Khuc Viet Nam." Youtube.com. Web. 23 Jan 2010. .

2 comments:

Unknown said...

don't just get angry, take action. also, learn all sides before making rash conclusions. missing update on compact challenge. 3/3

be green 101 said...

Tu, I understand that you want the vietnamese community to be united just as we have learn to be here in the United States of America. But first of all, you need to get your facts straight because it is outrageous to be talking about POLITICS and ART as thought it is ONE issue when in fact it is separate from one another. YOu can appreciate the art and the artist, I agree with using art to express yourself and your beliefs; but you need to understand that Politics is a very controversial issue and a very critical one entitled to one's community/cultural background. Therefore, it is not a good idea nor is it probable to mash the two separate ideas into one, that will create chaos and will be a foolish act to offend many people. You should also be further aware that like North and South Korea, the North and South vietnamese people will not get along as long as history and time can tell. Trust me, it would be alot more peaceful if everyone could unite as a country but you and I both know in our hearts that it is impossible to get the North and South to agree.