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...

Everytime I look at our classroom in my previous middle school age, there will always be a photo of an old man, smiling in front of the students. Yes, that person is taught by many people in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh. The man that sometimes we heard them bestowing the title "Uncle" as a respect. He is, of course, revered by my mother and my maternal grandmother, although the latter has some criticism on Ho, but her respect does not change. My father's family is different - they despise Ho Chi Minh and consider him a tyrant, a dictator who slaughtered people and dissidents for his communist revolution. This is the most significant issue and a problem of my two traits - an anti-communist in a half and a communist in the other half. Of course, I'd be happily to side with the anti-communists if this comes to Ho Chi Minh. However, with myself growing up, it is rather strange to realise that hating Ho Chi Minh isn't that simple - he is actually loved, and still being loved, ...

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1399499780712243201 When former Trump security advisor Michael Flynn attended a QAnon parade, where he made an infamous speech calling for a coup d'etat to occur - with the echoes from the Republicans, we have to be startled to hear this. Trump's megalomania about the rigged election, never found any evidence to support such a theory, appears to be far from over. Trump's followers insist that Trump is still the legal President, pointing out how the coup in Myanmar could serve as an inspiration for many Trumpers. This disgusting phenomenon went viral and Flynn tried to backtrack from his earlier words, but it didn't impress 2/3 Americans as well as the rest of the democratic world. Given how Flynn was pardoned by Trump and returned to become Trump's servant, having been sacked by Trump before, it showed how Trumpism actually developed. This also captured my belief about the Vietnamese Americans, and its large diaspora's ima...

Speaking about South America, I don't have so much knowledge outside sharing similar Spanish heritage, beautiful women and passionate football fans. Yet, when going to the Latin American world, I always have a fascinating question: why is the region so uniquely difficult to characterise? Well, my favourite country in South America has to be Chile, or maybe Uruguay. I'd say Brazil and Argentina when it comes to football. I admire the Chileans for their eagerness to progress despite difficulties to maintain a healthy, though far from a perfect society. I like the Uruguayans because of their progressiveness that allowed Uruguay to become one of the wealthiest. I can also add Ecuador and Bolivia, because of Leo Rojas, mountainous music of freedom and their native cultures untouched by time. But in the mind of a Vietnamese person, I'd expect more to speak about two South American countries that are definitely worth making the world feel sympathy. It has to be Colombia and Peru -...

Speaking about Viettel, one of the major telecommunication brand Vietnamese tend to feel associated and proud of recent years, the Vietnamese regime can also feel relieved about the successes of Viettel since it's operated by the Ministry of Defence, through privatisation talk has been ongoing. The Communist Party of Vietnam has been whitewashing its image to brand itself as a major partner. But this is changing. The coup d'état in February 1st by the Tatmadaw, or Burmese Armed Forces, put Viettel in jeopardy. Yet despite the deteriorating situation in Myanmar and the fear of losing revenues, the Vietnamese regime has not just silently sided with the Myanmar Generals but also appeared confidently believing, in secret, that, Myanmar would restore to stability so the Vietnamese government's investors to come back and exploit the resources. So, why won't Viettel pay attention to it? Viettel's quiet rise The company was founded in 1989 as a construction company as Vietn...

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 ...