Silent Lonesome Man

On January 6th, 2021, a shocking unrest broke out near the Capitol Hill. Encouraged by then-upcoming ousted President Donald Trump, who kept repeating the false claim about stolen elections, the crowd invaded the Capitol Hill, killing at least five people (including one policeman) with hope to u-turn the election. The insurrection failed, but this was a turning point - for many American lawmakers, it was a clear assault on the country's democratic system and thus, various groups like Proud Boys, QAnon and Oath Keepers have been listed as "domestic terrorists" - a really scornful term to describe people trying to remove democracy in the States. The reactions was immediate - a complete shame for so many Vietnamese people abroad. A lot of Vietnamese scholars openly condemned the assault and accused the people of insulting Vietnamese freedom heritage flag and its culture. For some people, this assault was even more effective than any communist propaganda perpetuated - it rui...

Every April 30th, two worlds exist between Vietnamese people. In Vietnam, where the communists gained unified power since 1975, the communists declared the day as "Liberation of the South" and made it a national holiday to observe. The regime also spends millions of dollars each year to celebrate and to demonstrate the might of the communists and how life in Vietnam has changed under the rule of the Communist Party. Some Vietnamese diasporas, mostly in former Comecon or in East Asia, do celebrate alongside their compatriots in Vietnam. Then, there is another world. Every year, the same day since 1975, Vietnamese gather, not to welcome, but to mourn the loss of the Republic of Vietnam, or South Vietnam, to the hand of the communist North. They have observed the fall of Saigon, first in 1976 and this has become a common practice of Vietnamese diasporas living in Western Europe, North America and Australasia - where the loyalty with the yellow flag and three red stripes remains ...