Global Voices » Vietnamese

Vietnam: Cat Cafe

Mong Palatino — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:10:45 +0000

Ailu Coffee Cat is a cafe shop in Hanoi intended for cat lovers. The young owner of the cafe promotes the shop through facebook.

Vietnam: Dad asks netizens to help find missing daughter

Mong Palatino — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:02:45 +0000

Nguyen Minh Chau from Vietnam last saw his five-year old daughter Nguyen Truong An fifteen years ago. He had gone to various places like Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong province, and even neighboring Laos to look for his daughter. He appeared on national TV and radio to ask for help. But he failed to find his daughter. Today the desperate father is asking the help of netizens in his long search for his daughter.

According to Chau, who is a resident of the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, his daughter went missing on December 10, 1995. Chau’s daughter and his nephew Diem My were last seen playing in a neighbor’s house. The two children were both five years old during that time.

Last month, Chau was assisted by a relative in creating a website to gather clues and reports about the missing daughter. Below is Chau’s introductory message

Con tôi sinh năm 1990, bị bắt cóc từ cuối năm 1995 ngay tại quê nhà ở Tiền Giang. Bé và một bé gái khác cũng gần bằng tuổi tên Diễm My mất tích vào một buổi chiều cuối năm đó. Gia đình tôi tìm kiếm con tôi bao năm nay cùng với sự giúp đỡ của cơ quan báo, đài, công an nhưng vẫn bặt vô âm tín. Giờ tôi đành gửi gắm chút hy vọng mong manh qua trang web này.

My daughter was born in 1990. She was kidnapped at the end of 1995 and is still missing. She and another baby girl (as old as she) were lost in the evening on the same day before the end of 1995. Our family has been looking for her for 15 years up to now with the help of many people, newspapers, and the police; but with no result. Now I hope that this website can help us…

Chau is thankful for any lead he will receive from netizens

Chúng tôi xin chân thành cảm ơn mọi thông tin về con gái chúng tôi!

We all greatly appreciate your useful information about my daughter!

The website and Chau’s determination to find his daughter attracted a warm response in Vietnam. Before the end of January, nearly 100,000 people have already visited the website. Chau has received thousands of calls expressing support for his cause.

Chau is hoping the online community will be able to help him. He stated this desire during an interview with Vietnam Bridge

I and my wife have never stopped missing my daughter. We love our missing daughter very much. We don’t know whether she lives happily or not. Through this website, I hope that the online community will help me to find my daughter

This author contacted Chau through the email address listed on his website. Below is Chau’s answer to the questions sent to him:

What motivated you to establish this website?
-> I think that information about the fact that I'm finding my daughter on the website nguyenminhchau.com can be known quickly on over the world with such speed of internet. I know that she was lost 15 years ago, and I just hope that my daughter will know this information and get back to our home.

Do you believe the internet can provide some clues in the search for your missing daughter?
-> Yes, I believe that.

Have you received any lead or feedback from internet users about your daughter?
->I have received a large number of feedback, recommendation. Some of them are very useful for me to find my baby girl

So far, are you satisfied with the results or reactions you are getting ever since you established this website?
-> I'm please with help of many people, newspaper. Their help is empowering us more and more to keep finding my daughter.

Chau said he was contacted by a U.S. citizen who offered to upgrade the nguyenminhchau.com website and add information in three more languages: Cambodian, Thai and Chinese. A company that exports goods to Cambodia is willing to print the picture of Chau’s daughter on the cover of their products.

Chau and his relatives can be reached through this email: truonghoangthai158@yahoo.com

Vietnam startups encountering difficulties

Mong Palatino — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:57:48 +0000

In the past two years, almost 100 web 2.0 startups were launched in Vietnam. Many of these projects are encountering difficulties today.

FaceViet, launched in August 2007 and hailed as Vietnam’s first Facebook clone was reported to be bankrupt already. (FaceViet founder denies this report). There is a rumor that Vietnam Online Network is looking for buyers. Cyvee, Vietnam’s first social network for professionals, is laying off 75 percent of its workforce.

Fresco 2.0 thinks the failure of some of these startups is inevitable but adds that “It is unfair to pin the blame for the misfortune of these start-ups 2.0 on the recession.”

Harry Do is worried about the status of other startups:

“If FaceViet’s bankruptcy rumors are for real, this would be a sad, but predictable chapter of Vietnam’s web 2.0 bubble. It would leave a lot of implications for web 2.0 Vietnam and more than 100 Vietnamese web startups still struggling to establish a sustainable business model in Vietnam, especially in the wake of the current financial crunch.”

He analyzes the failure of FaceViet:

“FaceViet failed to gain enough traction and reach critical mass not because of their vision…Poor execution and a lack of thorough understanding of local insights cannot compensate for a good vision, adequate funding and a passionate management team. If FaceViet could address these issues in the beginning, I thought FaceViet would be very much different from what they are now, and this is a real pity”

Harry and Fresco 2.0 identify some of the startups in Vietnam

Blog.com.vn - Teen social network
Caravat - LinkedIn clone in Vietnam
Chacha.vn - iLike clone
Chuyendong.vn - Teen social network
Clip.vn - YouTube clone
Cyvee - LinkedIn clone in Vietnam
Linkhay - Digg clone
PhunuNet - Women social network
Sannhac - Online karaoke community
Tamtay.vn - A hybrid of Facebook and MySpace
TeeVN - Zazzle clone
Thodia.vn - Yelp clone
traitim.vn - A social network for lovers
buzz.vn - A combination of Digg and Delicious
Zing - Vietnam’s largest portal for teens
Vietnamworks - Online job service

Clipvn is first web service in Vietnam to reach 1 million users. Sannhac recorded the fastest growth with 200 thousand users in 6 months. Vietnamworks is recognized as among the most successful start-ups to date.

There are only three thousand Twitter users in Vietnam. But Twitter-like platforms have been developed. For example: Ola Me and Loop. Aside from FaceViet, other Facebook clones include TheGioiBan.com and Guongmat

Screenshot of Ola Me, a Vietnam startup

Fresco 2.0 notes that startups in Vietnam should develop better models and services in order to be financially viable:

“Web 2.0 start-ups are surely hot, with a slew of new-comers springing up every now and then. But how will they go about making money? So how would all of these emerging technologies start monetizing their products?

“The key here is: before you start to think about money, think about your service first. I don’t understand why most Vietnamese entrepreneurs get so excited about their products and I don’t get the same kind of excitement when I use them. Am I a bit out of touch?”

Vietnam: Detention of journalists sparks web debate

Caroline Finlay — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:04:26 +0000

It would seem like the press in Vietnam is getting freer and freer, but the arrest of two journalists and a once-renowned investigator shows that any recent progress is tenuous.

In the run up to Vietnam’s admission to the World Trade Organization in 2006, newspapers reported with never before seen gusto. In the biggest story since the arrest and execution of mob boss Nam Can, in mid 2006 the Project Management Unit 18 (PMU 18) scandal broke. Newspapers reported on ministry of transportation officials who were accused of embezzlement and bribery and for losing millions of foreign dollars. These reports made the international press and greatly embarrassed the Vietnamese Communist Party.

At the heart of the scandal was senior police officer in charge of investigating the case, Major General Pham Xuan Quac, now retired. He was hailed as a hero for his role in exposing corruption in the ministry of transportation. At one point he gave an interview to Thanh Nien reporter Nguyen Viet Chien, who then wrote of PMU 18 manager Bui Tien Dung’s attempts at bribery. Dung was arrested, along with deputy minister of transport Nguyen Viet Tien, who allocated 70 percent of ministry funds to the corrupt and inefficient PMU 18. The minister of transportation, Dao Dinh Binh, resigned but was not detained.

Newspaper reports reflected public outrage and labelled Dung, Tien and Binh as corrupt villains. Reports mentioned the call for justice, a bold step in a tightly controlled media. In the West it is illegal for the media to declare a person guilty or innocent before he or she is sentenced in court, so perhaps the Vietnamese media did go a step too far.

But this year the pendulum swung back. In early 2008, the PMU 18 officials went to trial, and Nguyen Viet Tien, accused of taking PMU 18 vehicles for personal use and of bribing an official in a land-scam, was cleared of all charges. In April, he was reinstated as a Communist Party member. In May, investigator Pham Xuan Quac and journalists Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai were arrested and charged with “abuse of power” and for printing false facts in the news in the story relating to Dung bribing a number of important persons.

There is a frenzy of discussion on the internet, with colleagues of Chien and Hai eloquently supporting them, both in print and online. Nguyen Cong Khe, editor of the Thanh Nien newspaper, stands by journalist Chien:

“Phóng viên của tôi không bao giờ bịa đặt, mà làm báo không cho phép chúng tôi bịa đặt. Chúng tôi chống tham nhũng hay chống tiêu cực phải dựa trên cơ sở của sự thật và được cơ quan chức năng chính thức cung cấp.

Ngay như bài “Bùi Tiến Dũng đã khai đưa tiền chạy án cho gần 40 nhân vật quan trọng” đăng trên Thanh Niên có đến hai vị tướng xác nhận, và chúng tôi có băng ghi âm. . . Chúng tôi thông tin là có nguồn tin cung cấp, chứng cứ.”

“My reporter never fabricated anything; we are newspapermen and are never allowed to fabricate. We who are opposed to embezzlement and negativity must stand upon a foundation of truth for our organization to function.

“The day that the article, “Bui Tien Dung said that he bribed nearly 40 important persons” was in Thanh Nien newspaper, we had as many as two pieces of supporting evidence and a signed statement. We are informing you that we have valid news sources and proof.”

Journalist Doan Hiep of Saigon Giai Phong, thinks the charges relation to a single story written by Chien, are overblown and unrealistic:

“Họ bị khởi tố về tội lợi dụng chức vụ quyền hạn trong khi thi hành công vụ nhưng cụ thể là lợi dụng thế nào thì chưa ai biết cả. Nếu theo báo Thanh Niên, sai phạm của anh Nguyễn Việt Chiến ở chỗ đưa tin Bùi Tiến Dũng khai đã đưa tiền chạy án cho gần 40 nhân vật quan trọng, thì không đáng phải xử lý hình sự. Hẳn bên trong đó phải còn điều gì khuất tất.”

“They were detained for abusing power in doing their jobs, but they are actually being used for a purpose that no one can guess. If we look at the Thanh Nien newspaper, the mistake of Nguyen Viet Chien made when relating to the “Bui Tien Dung bribing nearly 40 important persons” story, then it’s not worth handling as a criminal offence. At the heart of this issue there must be something dubious.”

Ly Thong, of Hanoi, believes the current situation is a symptom of a greater struggle within government. Ly writes in a comment to an article in the English language Asia Sentinel on May 20th,

“This is a sign of disunity between the factions wresting for power within the communist party. The powerful conservative faction headed by the pro-Chinese (and pro-Russian) faction Nong Duc Manh want to deal a heavy blow at the more radical faction who want to combat corruption and inch towards the Western democracies…”

Chuong, a Vietnamese-Canadian, eloquently criticizes the Vietnamese government from Ontario,

“Các nhà báo viết về vụ PMU 18 đều bị bắt, cộng thêm thiếu tướng Nguyễn Xuân Quắc cũng cùng chung số phận, tôi càng không biết Việt Nam nằm đâu trên thước đo công lý, công bằng xã hội và tự do dân chủ của người dân…”

“The journalists who wrote about PMU18 have all been arrested, and even investigator Nguyen Xuan Quac faced the same destiny, and I question even more where Vietnam lies on the scales of justice, societal equality and free democracy of the people…”

One journalist, Huy Minh of the Vietnam News Agency, is taking it all in stride,

“Khi ông Nguyễn Việt Tiến còn bị giam giữ, tôi đã đọc một bài báo đăng tải hình ảnh ông Tiến cầm guitare và hát. Hình ảnh đó làm tôi chững lại và suy nghĩ, ông Tiến, trước hết cũng là một con người, với biết bao vui buồn của ông ấy…. Tôi chỉ có một câu hỏi thế này thôi: ‘Tại sao, trong vụ án này, lại có quá nhiều, quá nhiều người buồn đến vậy?. Tôi cũng đang như anh Việt Chiến, “bất lực trong cách giải thích” và cũng chẳng có gì cả, “ngoài những nỗi buồn”.’”

“When Nguyen Viet Tien was detained, I read an article with a picture of him holding a guitar and singing. That picture made stop short and think that Tien, before everything, is still a man, and I knew what sadness he bore… I only want to ask one question, ‘Why, during this episode, we have so many, so many people as upset as this? I will still insert that Viet Chien is “helpless in his explanations” and that it doesn’t mean a thing, “other than being sad”.’”

Minh has got something right, albeit unintentional. In Vietnam, the press is kept on a short leash, but occasionally a brave reporter is able to force change. These reporters knew better than anyone the tenuous ground on which they stood and took a calculated risk. Instead, drawing attention drawn to the fate of whistleblowers both highlights the press’ situation in Vietnam but also promotes fear of reporting the truth.