Question

What do the overseas Vietnamese think about Vietnam?

Answer 1

All my friends from both north and south Vietnam love their country but not the government. Considering Vietnam's ranking in the worldwide corruption index is rather shameful, it is not difficult is see why. Hopefully a new generation of Vietnamese will take over the governing of the country in the foreseeable future so that Vietnam may rise and take its place as the next tiger economy of Asia.

Answer 2

This depends on where they live, when they left, how old they are, and where they came from. I assume that you’re asking about people who are ethnically Vietnamese but not a Vietnamese citizen.

If they left during or right after the War, from the South, they were likely to be refugees and they do not like the current Vietnamese government with a fervor. They are more likely to live in the US, Canada, Australia, and Western European countries.

If they left a while after the War, but moved to the other former Communist Bloc countries, they do not hate the current government, but they do not think much of it either. Though some of them do.

If they left when they are young, they have little memory of Vietnam, so it’s more like a distant homeland to them. Same with if they are the 2nd or 3rd generations.

I can’t speak for everyone, but Vietnamese overseas tend to love Vietnam the country, Vietnamese the people, but not Vietnam the State.

Answer 3

The older generation still picture the old Vietnam in the 1980s, some with hatred, some with dear memories.

The younger generation do no care much (so they don’t really think about Vietnam). They only go to Vietnam as part of a family trip. They prioritize traveling for leisure in Thailand, Japan, Korea more often. They don’t identify themselves as Vietnamese.

Answer 4

I love Vietnamese people- I married a beautiful Vietnamese lady! I am so blessed. I see her spirit in the people. I cry for all her graves- and hope they have peace. I do not like the government but I support cooperation for her economy.

Answer 5

There are already some good answers here, but why not to add another.

I am a Vietnamese Czech. I was born in Czech Republic, but besides birth place, language, etc. there isn't any sort of a firm relationship between me and this country. Whenever I learn about something Czech I strugle remembering those facts for a longer period of time. Czech republic isn't foreign place to me so at the same time I lack curiosity that I have while encoutering toher new cultures and nations. I just don't find it interesting (omlouvám se všem Čechům, co tohle čtou :D)

On the other hand is Vietnam. The developing nation to my blood. Here I feel the exact opposite from Czech Republic. I feel like I have this “forgotten” link to this country and therefore I find the culture much more interesting. Maybe I carry little bit of that patriotism from my dad.

I find people the most interesting part about Vietnam (big big generalization incomming). From past to present Vietnamese are really hard working, cohesive yet genuinely happy. Their sense for identity, attitude to work, and much more. This is why Vietnam has been growing. I've been in Vietnam thrice and this features striked me the most to be honest. Also the natural and cultural sights were stunning.

I think Vietnam is heading to a good routes both economic and social, but it has without a doubt many flaws.

The well known one is communist party slowing down the process of growth. There are too many regulations for foreign investors and market and Vietnamese gov't is taking quite handful of a time to cut them off. The infrastructure in big cities is horrid, air and environmental pollution are becoming also a big problems. The worst part is many gov't official are corrupt and gov't overall, according to communist/totalitarian tradition, is sensitive and reactive towards criticism.

In summaryI see bright future for Vietnam and Vietnamese people. Vietnam could definitely use more advanced garbage management and more green thinking initiative.

Answer 6

I am Vietnamese, born, raised and living in Czech Republic, Europe and my general thougts about Vietnam are “Nice people, nice culture, bad government.” I visited Vietnam several times and I was pleased by the easy going and chill lifestyle practiced by nice people. Although they have a bad side to them, Vietnamese people are generally nice and respectful (especially to elders).

Unlike the Czech society, that I grew up in, the Vietnamese society tends to be more connected and friendly. People in Vietnam talk to each other a lot more and they share everything, especially food. After every dinner, they want to pay, leading to a long argument in terms of “I will pay…No, I will pay!”

Also, Vietnam has a very interesting culture, and as I’ve seen, Europeans have recently started to be interested in it. Not only is tourism in Vietnam really popular right now, I’ve also noticed, that Vietnamese dishes, especially phở, have become really popular outside Vietnam.

Unfortunately, because of the socialist government, Vietnam is not very developed. The politics and economy of the far-left socialism destroyed the country, and when Vietnam started to accept a limited form of capitalism, it completely ruined the society, leading to a surprisingly anti-communist class development. What I mean by that is the huge gap between the upper class and the lower class, which is the opposite of what is seen as the communist ideology. On one side, you have the large poor community of Vietnam. On the other side, you have people like Phạm Nhật Vượng, the chairman of VinGroup and “Vietnam’s first billionaire”.

Answer 7

I'm not an oversea Vietnamese but somehow requested to answer this question so I'll throw in some observations here:

Poor: Vietnam suffered after the long and harsh wars and is still rebuilding without neither US or Russian help. Unlike Germany, Taiwan or Japan so its economy is growing extremely slow and the people suffer.

Limited of world knowledge : holding a Vietnamese passport barely allows you to see the world, also the restricted education caused by limited freedom.

Wealthy and corrupted government caused the people to suffer even more.

Answer 8

I'm ethnic Chinese born in Vietnam. I left at a young age. Living in the USA gives you the impression that socialist/communist countries are dirt poor, but then during a time, China & Vietnam, respective of communist and socialist ideologies, tried adding capitalism into the mix, and both countries ended up with a very rich/very poor which is now unfortunately disproportional type of economy.