Silent Lonesome Man

When Putin waged a brutal, inhuman invasion of Ukraine on 23 February 2022, it has already reached the boiling temper, as the invasion proved to be far more difficult than expected. Putin's Russian army has suffered consistent tactical and strategical failures to maintain, while troops suffer from low morale due to being deceived and have to fight a war they did not know they would take part. In megalomania and isolation, Putin, the all-time dictator and new Tsar of autocratic Russia, had called for a massive redeployment of nuclear deterrent force on high alert , calling the West " empire of lies " and warned to use nuclear weapons as if it could mean the complete annihilation of a nation - something Putin is not afraid to do given his notorious ruthlessness in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria. For a dictator that is so embedded with projecting neo-imperialist and fascist-like empire, as well as his eagerness to suffer hardship for long-term imperialist gains, Putin's act...

It's just two matchdays so it was too early to decide who can book places in Qatar. Yet the expectation people wanted to see, instead, came out with tons of surprise. One among them is shockingly Japan. The qualifying route for Qatar was initially smooth, the Japanese conquered the second round with no flaws, eight straight wins to reach the third round in a comfortable fashion. There, a wrong impression was created: Japan would go and occupy the no.1 spot in the third round, easily heading for Qatar. However, after just two games, Japan is facing a major danger of not qualifying for the World Cup. This came amidst the way how Japan showed up in the qualification. So, why should Japan's supporters be worried about such a scenario like this? This came when Japan started its campaign in the group containing Oman, Vietnam, Australia, China and Saudi Arabia. Among all of them, Japan was ranked the highest. This created a sentiment that Japan would go to take the first place, with a...

Speaking on the ongoing Myanmar protests, which claimed the lives of more than 500 citizens, the protest has led me to think and question the desire of the protesters, and its willingness to commit for a long term run. At the same time, my soul spun to see on Vietnam, a country that is considered as the most brutal dictatorship in Southeast Asia, even above Myanmar; yet the Vietnamese people in majority, instead of taking its stance in solidarity for democracy; have chosen a cold-blooded extrusion of democratic activists, even banishing them away. Then, I look at Vietnamese abroad. Majority of them are refugees who fled from Vietnam, and surely they are more vocal for democracy, and absolutely, they did demonstrate by calling for solidarity, supporting the Burmese protesters. Yet, their call has been mocked as a foxed move, and this was owned by an action on January 2021 that stayed as a stain forever on the status of Vietnamese former refugees. To think, can Vietnamese ever speak for ...

I grew up being Vietnamese, and I have a divisive family. A father who is a fervent anti-communist but drunk and violent, and a mother who herself is a high-ranking official working as a judge in a State Court in Hanoi, a caring woman but arrogant. Being born in such a unique family of a communist mother and an anti-communist father shaped my experience with both anti-communist Vietnamese and the pro-communist Vietnamese, and this made me have a clearer insight into the communist party that has reigned Vietnam ever since the Fall of Saigon in 1975, and the vast majority of Vietnamese abroad who are 80%, anti-communist. I don't think I am a bridge, but circumstances made me so. For me, I am always interested to see the opinions of Vietnamese Americans, the largest Vietnamese diaspora in the world. The history of Vietnamese immigration to the U.S. is just a recent contemporary one, yet pretty much connected to the tragic history of Vietnamese people. The Vietnam War, began from 1956-...