Question

How do Vietnamese people living in Vietnam view overseas Vietnamese people?

Answer 1

30 years ago,domestic Vietnameses were very poor and hungry, we called Oversea Vietnamese was "Viet Kieu" with a lot of admiration. Vietkieu have sent remittance, medicine, clothes ...to their families in Vietnam. Today, Vietkieu are called abroad Vietnamese. There are some domestic Vietnamese are richer than Vietkieu, they sponsor Vietkieu’s homeland visits, send money to Vietkieu to open nail salons/restaurants, send inheritance to Vietkieu, financial support to Vietkieu. The cash flow from Vietnam to abroad to Vietkieu is even higher than that Vietkieu had been send to Vietnam. Almost no one in Vietnam can live on receiving 100 USD per year sent by Viet Kieu. The brief remittances send to Vietnam is from new Vietnamese people live oversea (not those who left in 1975). Those who left in 1975 were over 75 years old and they had no income to send remittances to Vietnam. 2nd and 3rd generation of them, they have very few relationships with domestic people and they do not send a remittance. Emotionally, we still consider the first generation Viet Kieu as relatives and relatives, but the second and third generation we only consider them to be Vietnamese origin foreigners. However, many Vietkieu still have the look of local Vietnamese like it was in 30 years ago, look down us, obstinate, hatred, or hope to return to take control us, it’s making us unhappy.

Answer 2

Mostly, they are seen as walking, talking ATMs. Sad and hilarious at the same time, but true regardless of which region of Vietnam they visit.

I won't comment much on the political aspect, but there are different groups of Vietnamese diaspora, and you are more likely to find the last true intellectuals of our race in the Vietnamese communities in the US or Australia, or France. They have never been dumbed down by the communist education system in what was left of Vietnam.

Answer 3

The Vietnamese government, for its own part, had actively tried to woo back overseas Vietnamese, who bring capital and expertise. Its view of the Việt Kiều changed from "cowardly traitors" to "essential elements of Vietnamese people" (or "integral parts of the Vietnamese Nation"). The government enacted laws to make it easier for overseas Vietnamese to do business in Vietnam, including those allowing them to own land. However, overseas Vietnamese still face discrimination while trying to do business there. Overseas Vietnamese

Answer 4

I’d like to clarify the meaning of the so wrongly used Sino-Vietnamese phrase “Việt Kiều” (越侨 = yué qiáo): Actually, Việt Kiều means « Vietnamese citizen”. So, in this case, we can’t use this phrase (Việt Kiều) to call an American or an European citizen originally from Vietnam, but we must call them “ngoại kiều gốc Việt”.

Answer 5

There are a huge different in thinking between classes in society as well as what people think and what actually happend

What most people think:

Viet Nam is a poor country, many (if you don’t say most) people have a very hard life, our society is always a massive mess and people will live this country if they get the chance to. Why? Because they think they'll have a better life there. In the past, people who lived oversea and who worked foreign companies / government (Viet Kieu is the name we use for them) are very wealthy comparing to Vietnamese who stayed behind. This lead to the thinking that Viet Kieu is always rich. Vietnamese when return to their hometown use to bring present with them and give it to anyone they know (in the past). Nowadays, even when people don’t want to or even can not afford the present, they still have to because of the old and terriblely wrong thought. Vietnamese always is affected by the thinking of other, we can not ignore it. Why? People never believe what we say, they believe what the “know”. What happend if we don’t give them present? They’ll start talking, swearing, saying bad things about us, then about our families, then say that we have no pride left, that it a shame for them, our family, our country to have us, that we’re to selfish, that they raised us and we paid nothing back, and what every they can say. We can just live the hometown but our family can’t they still have to stay in Viet Nam and indure what other people say. Even if we have no family left in Viet Nam we still have to return at some time in the year and pray for our ancestors, Vietnamese never forget anything and never stop talking. Ok lets say: It’s just a few present, give it to them. No, people will gather around your house and start asking for present, if you only saw them once for your whole life (according to them) you still have to give them present. And where does all of this came from? One wrong thought does it all. Other countries is rich ==> people who live there is rich.

What wealthy people think:

Wealthy Vietnamese has a lot of knowledge about life. They know exactly what people have to suffer, what they have to risk, how life are living abroad and the deeply understand for Vietnamese living oversea. These people will choose a country and live Viet Nam at some point for sure, but they’ll stay until when they see is time to go, many kind of go back and forth between countries. They don’t need anything, people give them presents with respect, they care how mature, how much other have grown instead of what the “Viet Kieu” bring for them.

What life really is abroad:

Life is not easy living in a different country. Taxes, money, loan, house, payment, works,… there are too many things to worry about. People will have a better environment but business won’t gonna be so easy, things won’t gonna be so cheap, life won’t gonna be so relaxing and family won’t gonna be so close. It is stressful living abroad with all the payment you have. The fact that one huge suitcase of present is require when you want to come back home won’t help at all.

Answer 6

I think Vietnamese everywhere are Vietnamese, born from the soil of Vietnam and from the people of Vietnamese birth. I was never taught that they are evil or cowardly, and I found them approachable. I had a Vietnamese friend in university whom I befriended, and he did not appear any foreign to me.

In my opinion, the three most important criteria for an overseas Vietnamese to be accepted is that (1) they speak Vietnamese, (2) they have Vietnamese parent and (3) they behave appropriately and respectably. My friend was exactly like that and he was a Vietnamese. None of my other friends showed any inconvenience to him.

There are also many cases of overseas Vietnamese returning to Vietnam. A high-profile return was when Mr. Nguyễn Caokì, a former politician, returned to Vietnam. There are also overseas Vietnamese who returned to work for the government. Tônnữ thị Ninh, for instance, was a member of the royal family who worked for the government as an ambassador.

Of course, due to the war, there are still many people who are hostile to the current government and to the Vietnamese citizens. But I believe they are mostly those who stay outside the country. Those who return, like my friend, would find no difficulty in their relatives who, like themselves, are happy to see distant relatives. With this amount of family and friendship I am sure all differences and misunderstandings could be bridged in no time.

Answer 7

When I went back, I was treated like I was one of their own like I never left the country. They would ask me if I were Vietnamese and when I replied yes, they would speak Vietnamese to me. I would tell them that I didn't speak it and that I would love to relearn the language. I would tell them that I was adopted and that I never grew up with other Vietnamese around so I lost the language, although the sounds of the words are very familiar to me.

Answer 8

I am a Singaporean living in Ho Chi Minh City ever since 2010.

Since my wife is Vietnamese, I have had numerous opportunities to interact socially with both local Vietnamese and the Viet Kieu.

These are my perfunctory observations:

1) The local folks often look upon the Viet Kieu as "role models", especially from the standpoint of wealth creation;

2) Through the Viet Kieu, the local folks see America as the 'Land of Opportunity', and strive to make their way over there through family connections;

3) The Viet Kieu are no different from local folks, except for their ability to speak their mind, and to speak in American English;

4) In many ways, the Viet Kieu are somehow more open-minded;

5) Apart from those who are in the high-tech startup community, most of the other returning Viet Kieu are in the late 50's/early 60's, searching for their family roots, while looking for opportunities to diversify their hard-earned wealth back in their homeland;

6) Even today, folks in the South often view their counterparts in the North very differently, and the Viet Keu are naturally no different;

7) With the gradual influx of returning Viet Kieu professionals under the government's continuing conducive policies to attract and engage with them, and as 60% of the population of Vietnam are currently under the age of 40, they are the future generations, and the future of the country is in their hands;

Answer 9

As a current citizen of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, I mostly view overseas Vietnamese as a Vietnamese, except those overseas Vietnamese that try to blame everything bad in Vietnam to the fact that Vietnam is "socialist". Those few are annoying.

Answer 10

They are fine, Vietnamese is Vietnamese, that all. except for some clowns did many stupid things to make communists go down but mot even care for Vietnamese.