Asia Blog: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam

The difference between America and Vietnam is summarized by the public reaction to Hoang Thuy Linh and Paris Hilton’s sex tapes. While Paris’s film shot the young American heiress to instant celebrity and cemented her hold on the American public, Hoang Thuy Linh’s television show was canceled. She gave an apology on national TV for violating her good-girl image:

“I made a mistake, a terrible mistake. I apologize to you, my parents, my teachers and my friends.”

An Associated Press article Vietnam Is Having Paris Hilton Moment quotes a few interesting Vietnamese on the issue:

• “A good girl must keep herself clean until she is married,” Khanh said. “Thuy Linh should be condemned.”
• charges of “spreading depraved cultural items”
• “People will forgive him, but not her”
• “it’s OK for a boy to have sex at that age, but not for a girl”
• the episode underscored the “dark side of globalization” and warned that a flood of foreign influences “threaten Vietnam’s cultural foundation.”

In the 21st century, like all previous centuries, the morality police and gender double-standards live on. How long is it going to be before global morality becomes fully modernized?

When I hear Fergie’s new single, London Bridge, I noticed it contained the line “Love you long time:”

VIP ’cause I know I gotta shine–
I’m Fergie Ferg, and me love you long time!

At first, I assumed this was a coincedence, but then I heart Nelly Furtado’s hit single Maneater:

You doing anything to keep her by your side
because, she said she love you, love you long time!

The lyrics have shown up in other, older songs, like Jay-Z’s I Just Wanna Love You and Nitty’s Nasty Girl, but they originally were introduced by 2-Live-Crew in their outrageous song Me So Horny:

Ahh! Me so horny!
Me love you long time!

This was in turn sampled from the Stanley Kubrick movie Full Metal Jacket, where a hooker in Vietnam asks two US soldiers, “Hey, you got girlfriend Vietnam? Me so horny. Me love you long time.” The phrase has since been used in countless other productions, and seems to be reviving in usage in modern pop music as a cliche of sexuality.

According to a recent article in Time, the site of the genocide at Choeung Ek is to be turned into a private tourist attraction:

According to a contract signed on March 18, the new operator, JC Royal Co., is expected to “increase revenue for the state and develop and renovate the beauty of Choeung Ek killing fields.” JC Royal is to pay the municipality of Phnom Penh $15,000 a year. In return, it will be allowed to jack up entrance fees, charging foreign visitors up to $3 instead of the current 50 cents.

Hopefully this Japanese company will do a better job of taking care of a war atrocity memorial than the usual Japanese “it wasn’t so bad… ” or “it didn’t happen like that” …

His Imperial Highness, Prince Regent, Nguyen Phuc Buu Chanh came to Cornell the other day to give a speech about the restoration of the remainder of the royal family to their place in Vietnam. Currently exiled, his lecture, “A Revival of Vietnamese Culture,” drew about 40 people, most of whom were taking Vietnamese language classes, or in the Cornell Vietnamese Association. Highlights included the singing of US and Vietnamese anthems, and a Vietnamese dinner at the end of the lecture.

The only point that the Prince Regent had to make, besides detailing the rich history of 19th - 20th century emperors, was:

“By the will of the people, the royal family of Vietnam will someday return to govern its people, as it had before.”

He was very hesitant to outline any particular plan for reinstating a Vietnamese monarchy, only saying that someday, the Vietnamese people will find fond memories of the old days, and hardship with their current government. At that time, monarchy would somehow “reappear” in Vietnam. Perhaps you can find more at his official website.

I have figured how to get them off of my cellphone camera now, so I’ll post photographs of the event:

HIH Nguyen Phuc Buu Chanh

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