Question

Do you think Vietnamese are the most open-minded and kind ethnicity in Asia?

Answer 1

People, I’ve seen a lot of criticism in this debate.

Well, although being a 100% Vietnamese, I have to say that MOST OF OUR POPULATION HAVE RACIST THOUGHTS. I never want to imply my compatriots here, but that is the fact. Let’s take an example.

My mother and I just went home from a long trip a few days ago. On passing a group of Muslims dressed in black, I saw one of them drop their wallet (I didn’t know their gender though). I just stopped, picked up the wallet and called “Sorry, is this yours?”. They returned, took it back and spoke in an Arabian English voice “Thank you, thanks a lot!”. Then guess what, my mother SCOLDED ME on my way home. You know what she said?

I’ll derive the exact sentence here:

WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO HELP THOSE NIGGAS? (Oh hell guys, that was an Arabian! And to any Africans here, I never want to say bad things about you guys, I’m just retelling what my mother said) THOSE DIRTY PEOPLE ARE MORONS, FAGGOTS, AND I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK TO ANY OF THEM! YOUR PICKING UP THEIR WALLET WAS A SHAMEFUL ACTION!

I have no prejudices towards anyone, so I felt her mind was really filled with such thoughts about other ethnics. Due to the corrupted education system, most people (except a few of us Vietnamese here and somewhere out there) have been taught that they are superior and need to keep that going. But nowadays the number of less racist people in Vietnam is increasing, I can’t deny that. Maybe most (gotta say “most” ’cause some are heavily mistreated on our land) people from Western countries are treated better, but just try a day sitting in a “hàng nước” (aka beverages spot), you’ll see the dark side of this culture.

Anyway, I wish any foreigners coming to our country a pleasant, well-treated stay. You’ll find good people anywhere.

Answer 2

As a general rule of thumb, the more developed and educated a society, the more open-minded it is. Vietnam is neither (more developed or very educated).

Though Vietnam boasts a high literacy rate among ASEAN of 97%, it doesn’t tell the whole story of education level. I’m not going into details about this, but in short, the rate looks better on paper than it actually is. I find that in term of general knowledge, Vietnamese are woefully lacking. Most people just know whatever they are taught in school (which is very bias and limited, to say the least), and are allowed to read in the media (information is still tightly controlled).

I’ve travelled quite a lot around the country, and have talked to many people, and surprised as to how little they know about things that are not pertained to their daily life, especially people in rural areas. Many people don’t even know much about things that are pertained to their life.

Until their knowledge base is broaden, and they know more about the world, I doubt that Vietnamese are open-minded.

Answer 3

I grew up in Singapore, and have migrated to Vietnam as my wife is Vietnamese.

While it is easy to over-generalize on Vietnamese behavior, there are often outliers in the population. I find many of them to be kind-hearted, communal, and gentle people. Generally curious about foreigners, they are often open and welcoming.

There are however, contentuous issues that be a problem. Due to their education, some have started to see the Mainland Chinese as a scorge due to the ongoing issues of the South China Sea conflict. In this case, it reflects on the degree of their open-mind and possibly some stereotyping, or as retaliation to certain world events which have represented the “conflict” of us vs them.

Other than that, yes I tend to agree the Vietnamese can be very kind people, and many have are good hearted.

Answer 4

Absolutely not. They are among the most close minded, especially the North Vietnamese.

The mentality of Vietnamese, Koreans, Taiwanese, and Japanese are anchored in Chinese mentality because they were historically part of the Chinese influence.

The Chinese are not open-minded because their location is locked in by a desert on the west and ocean on the east. This allowed them to evolve in isolation.

In contrast, Indian influence could stretch left to Arabia and east to Bali, Indonesia. Roman influence could stretch all over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The most open-minded in Southeast Asia are Malaysia-Singapore because they are in between India and China.

So Vietnam is close-minded because China is close-minded.

As for kindness:

Answer 5

I am Chinese. I do think many Vietnamese are friendly, but I do not agree with you that they are the most open-minded.

Answer 6

As a western guy that lived for several months in Vietnam before jumping to other Asian countries, and who has been in almost every ASEAN country, I would beg to DISAGREE .

I would label Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia as the most welcoming and open in all of Southeast Asia (excluding some regions of Malaysia and Indonesia, like Aceh, which are close to pretty much everything but to the idea of being open).

In fact, I was pretty astounded to see how, after 30-40 years, North and South Vietnam do still exist as separate countries on a social level. People from the north and the south are completely different, and the intercation with them, from a foreigner’s point of view, also differs a lot. I was very well treated in the southern and central regions of Vietnam, but once you reach the north everything changes. Unfortunately, I stayed in Hanoi for around 5months. The city is quite attractive and close to some amazing attractions and historic spots, but having to interact with the Hanoians, as a non-Asian foreigner, was a daily ordeal that was hardly ever pleasant. I could share tons of bad stories and experiences I and other people had while being there (including also Asians, male and female), some of which were even awful.

After Vietnam I went to Indonesia and Malaysia, and duuuude… did I feel the difference!!