Editor’s Note: Dear readers! Our “Topic for discussion: Is it hard to kick Vietnamese’s bad habits” has attracted lots of comments and stories from expats and foreign visitors. Tuoitrenews welcomes any response from you regarding this matter, so please direct your comments or/and articles to ttn@tuoitre.com.vn

Below are some opinions against those previously published on our website.

John Childs (Kangaroo Island, Australia)

Xin chao! I'm an expat living in Vietnam for six plus years. I love Vietnam and try to write a little from my experience here.

Yes, I know very well what your writer refers to. This criticism has become a well known dirge among foreigners in Vietnam.  

I don't agree with the notion that Vietnamese behavior needs education from the West and I'll say why.

As a Westerner who has also lived amongst different cultures before coming to Vietnam, I was first struck by the freshness and novelty of Vietnamese people [and] their essential "get on with their neighbors" character.

This is their strength and their operating system. This drives behavior that has become lost in Western society, so yes we have all these rules and punishments on the roads, but ha! People behave very badly despite all that. Your writer omits to mention how in "Western Paradise" despite all the rules and punishments, fundamentally bad behavior and anger persist. That's the difference and Vietnam is a far better environment for that reason. The west can learn from this, [fewer] traffic lights, personal responsibility, sure there is this so-called ‘tunnel vision’ but 'not anger'.

Remember I'll experience road rage in Sydney. I prefer Vietnam.

Lindsey Kiang (Boston, Massachusetts)

That is an interesting topic! But I think that "advice" from foreigners (expats) on how the Vietnamese should behave sounds quite colonial. It sounds like foreigners again telling the "locals" how they should come up to foreign standards. Didn't Vietnam fight a very long war to gain its independence from foreign dominance?

No doubt there are many annoying habits in Vietnam; as a frequent visitor, I have seen them myself. But the Vietnamese people are entitled to live the way they want to live. If there are to be changes in behavior, suggestions or recommendations should come from the Vietnamese people themselves, not from condescending expats who are not part of the culture.

Your series can be very interesting and positive, but only if the observations and recommendations come from your Vietnamese readers themselves.

Glynn-Michael 

In the “Honking horns” story, your writer wrote: “Admittedly, I use the sidewalks to my advantage and I often tread up one ways to save time because this kind of behavior on a motorbike seems to be accepted here in Ho Chi Minh City”. 

I don’t agree with this. Actions like this have caused numerous street accidents [to] the (worldwide) tourist[s]. More expats like your writer should obey the accepted (worldwide) rules of the road. Stay [out] of the sidewalk and don’t go the wrong way. Staying in the motorbike lane usually won’t reward you with HONK HONK.

The press is full of stories about how to enhance Vietnam’s tourist image. Maybe here is a good start for those who can make a difference.

>> Vietnamese’s bad habits: The ‘Tunnel Vision’ epidemic>> Vietnamese’s bad habits: Never sticking to the plan >> Vietnamese’s bad habits: Honking horns in Saigon

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