Yang
We are now in Malaysia, where racial/religious politics are never far from the surface. Decades of positive discrimination in favour of the majority, Muslim, Malays have barely dented the economic superiority of the ethnic Chinese, who are Christian or Buddhists. Throw in Indians, Tamils and various indigenous ethnic groups of a myriad of religions and you have what could be an explosive mixture. It is a tribute to the tolerance and good nature of the Malaysian people that nothing ever explodes. From an outsider’s perspective, everything seems to cohabit quite smoothly. Churches, temples and mosques on one hand, halal restaurants and alcohol-serving restaurants on the other are dotted around without discernible geographic segregation. We have been well received by all groups.
Racial politics in China are quite different. There are separatist tendencies in the West of the country, as well as occupied Tibet, but foreigners rarely feel any repercussions from that. As foreigners, we were treated exactly the same by 99.9% of the Chinese people with whom we came in contact: with crushing indifference. I think Chinese people mostly hate the Japanese: angry resentment over the Japanese occupation in the ‘30s and ‘40s is encouraged by the government and apologies are constantly demanded. To my knowledge, no one ever points out that the admittedly great sufferings inflicted by Japan pale in comparison to the atrocities suffered by the Chinese people at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. No one ever asks them to apologize.
Vietnam does not have any internal racial problems, but they do not like the Chinese. Given that Vietnamese history reads pretty much like serial Chinese invasions eventually rebuffed by the Vietnamese (most recently in 1979), this is perhaps understandable. The Chinese do not help their cause by travelling in extremely noisy, annoying groups. Vietnam’s history does not give them any reason to dislike the Russians. They are regardless despised, even by tourists of every other nationality, according to a non-scientific survey we conducted. This, then, just has to be the Russians’ fault. It makes sense in a way, since, throughout their history and to this day, Russia has been governed mostly by thuggish, uncivilized autocrats. The only veneer of civilization appeared at court from Peter the Great to Nicholas II, so that ended almost a hundred years ago.
Vietnam’s recent history would also suggest that they should harbour resentment against the Americans, Australians and French people. They seem to have gotten over it. Part of it is probably because of how the communist propaganda portrays the American war as an American invasion and as a continuation of the struggle for independence started against the French in the late 19th century. According to Vietnamese mythology, the Hoa Lo prison, better known as the Hanoi Hilton, was an instrument of brutal and widespread French oppression against the brave Vietnamese people. By their own admission, however, “only” some 1,600 political prisoners were held there by the French in over 60 years. I’m sure it was no picnic for those poor guys, but one imprisonment every two weeks does not a gulag make. The story goes on to imply that, in the 1960s, the prison was turned into a sort of Club Med for American pilots shot down while trying to invade North Vietnam. Of course, the routine recreational torture of hundreds of those Americans over a decade is mentioned nowhere.
The Ho with the Heart of Gold
The whole Vietnamese communist mythology is built around the personality cult of Ho Chi Minh. “Uncle Ho” is still depicted on crude propaganda poster, implying that his spirit still smiles benevolently on the plans of the Party. Such is the cult that we are warned not to show any disrespect to His memory, as this could cause grave offence to the people. I don’t know exactly where Ho stands in the pantheon of communist butchers, but, given the population of Vietnam, he almost certainly has at least a million murders to his name.
Lagniappe
In the late 1950s, South Vietnam and South Korea were at approximately the same level of economic development (North Vietnam was already far behind). Both countries were governed by a nasty-ish dictatorship, but had economic freedom. South Korea had a few years earlier experienced a full-scale invasion by its communist neighbour. This was repulsed by the US and its allies. South Vietnam was a few years away from experiencing a full-scale invasion by its communist neighbour, but the US eventually lost the will to stop that invasion. Fifty-plus years later, South Korea is a democracy, Vietnam is still a nasty-ish dictatorship and the average South Korean is almost 13 times richer than the average Vietnamese. Who won that war anyway?
We are now in Malaysia, where racial/religious politics are never far from the surface. Decades of positive discrimination in favour of the majority, Muslim, Malays have barely dented the economic superiority of the ethnic Chinese, who are Christian or Buddhists. Throw in Indians, Tamils and various indigenous ethnic groups of a myriad of religions and you have what could be an explosive mixture. It is a tribute to the tolerance and good nature of the Malaysian people that nothing ever explodes. From an outsider’s perspective, everything seems to cohabit quite smoothly. Churches, temples and mosques on one hand, halal restaurants and alcohol-serving restaurants on the other are dotted around without discernible geographic segregation. We have been well received by all groups.
Racial politics in China are quite different. There are separatist tendencies in the West of the country, as well as occupied Tibet, but foreigners rarely feel any repercussions from that. As foreigners, we were treated exactly the same by 99.9% of the Chinese people with whom we came in contact: with crushing indifference. I think Chinese people mostly hate the Japanese: angry resentment over the Japanese occupation in the ‘30s and ‘40s is encouraged by the government and apologies are constantly demanded. To my knowledge, no one ever points out that the admittedly great sufferings inflicted by Japan pale in comparison to the atrocities suffered by the Chinese people at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. No one ever asks them to apologize.
Vietnam does not have any internal racial problems, but they do not like the Chinese. Given that Vietnamese history reads pretty much like serial Chinese invasions eventually rebuffed by the Vietnamese (most recently in 1979), this is perhaps understandable. The Chinese do not help their cause by travelling in extremely noisy, annoying groups. Vietnam’s history does not give them any reason to dislike the Russians. They are regardless despised, even by tourists of every other nationality, according to a non-scientific survey we conducted. This, then, just has to be the Russians’ fault. It makes sense in a way, since, throughout their history and to this day, Russia has been governed mostly by thuggish, uncivilized autocrats. The only veneer of civilization appeared at court from Peter the Great to Nicholas II, so that ended almost a hundred years ago.
Vietnam’s recent history would also suggest that they should harbour resentment against the Americans, Australians and French people. They seem to have gotten over it. Part of it is probably because of how the communist propaganda portrays the American war as an American invasion and as a continuation of the struggle for independence started against the French in the late 19th century. According to Vietnamese mythology, the Hoa Lo prison, better known as the Hanoi Hilton, was an instrument of brutal and widespread French oppression against the brave Vietnamese people. By their own admission, however, “only” some 1,600 political prisoners were held there by the French in over 60 years. I’m sure it was no picnic for those poor guys, but one imprisonment every two weeks does not a gulag make. The story goes on to imply that, in the 1960s, the prison was turned into a sort of Club Med for American pilots shot down while trying to invade North Vietnam. Of course, the routine recreational torture of hundreds of those Americans over a decade is mentioned nowhere.
The Ho with the Heart of Gold
The whole Vietnamese communist mythology is built around the personality cult of Ho Chi Minh. “Uncle Ho” is still depicted on crude propaganda poster, implying that his spirit still smiles benevolently on the plans of the Party. Such is the cult that we are warned not to show any disrespect to His memory, as this could cause grave offence to the people. I don’t know exactly where Ho stands in the pantheon of communist butchers, but, given the population of Vietnam, he almost certainly has at least a million murders to his name.
Lagniappe
In the late 1950s, South Vietnam and South Korea were at approximately the same level of economic development (North Vietnam was already far behind). Both countries were governed by a nasty-ish dictatorship, but had economic freedom. South Korea had a few years earlier experienced a full-scale invasion by its communist neighbour. This was repulsed by the US and its allies. South Vietnam was a few years away from experiencing a full-scale invasion by its communist neighbour, but the US eventually lost the will to stop that invasion. Fifty-plus years later, South Korea is a democracy, Vietnam is still a nasty-ish dictatorship and the average South Korean is almost 13 times richer than the average Vietnamese. Who won that war anyway?