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Creative Process Journal - Nam Bắc Một Nhà
Work documentation, thought processes, random notes & readings by Bảo Anh for his final year project @ LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, 2023 - Nam Bắc Một Nhà. The content represents only a portion of the author's perspective at the time of its writing and may not encompass the entirety of his viewpoint at the moment. As you navigate through the document, you will witness significant shifts in perspective, showcasing the evolving nature of a process journal over the lifespan of this project (and even beyond). As the project is a culmination of diverse resources ranging from the Internet to people IRL, done for a speculative purpose (for fun), its intention is not to draw definitive conclusions or dismiss any statement. Rather, it aims to provide a middleman's spot, a 2.5th perspective to observe this whole obscurity and complexity of the issue.
Typefaces used are Bourrasque by Bureau Brut & Acumin Pro Condensed by Robert Slimbach, Adobe Fonts. Other external material citations can be found throughout this document. If you find it hard to read, I recommend turning to the page MAUSOLEUM for a more comfortable experience. If you want to have a chat or simply just tell me how you feel about anything regarding my project, feel free to reach me at @bao.anh.bui on Instagram.
Content
I. Brief Ideation
1. Sustainability
2. Inclusivity
3. A soft man
4. A Christian
5. A South Vietnamese
6. Summary & selection
II. Brand Research
1. References, resources & materials
2. Type of brand
3. Brand name
4. Research on ‘Reconciliation’
III. Talk with People
1. Chat with dad [6]
IV. Design Process
1. Logo + system
2. Touchpoints:
a. A street sign
b. A scarf
c. A website
d. Posters
e. Brand Style Guide/Booklet
V. Talk with People (Continue)
1. Chat with maternal grandparents [14,15]
2. Visit the ARVN cemetery
3. Chat with paternal uncle [16]
4. Chat with friend [17]
5. Chat with friend [18]
6. Chat with friend [19]
7. Review Giải khăn sô cho Huế by Nhã Ca
8. Chat with friend [9]
9. An excerpt from Mặt Thật by Bùi Tín
VI. Personal Reflection
VII. References
I. Brief Ideation
Where should I start? I have to think of something for my final year project at Lasalle. The FYP brief this year is either about ‘Sustainability’ or ‘Inclusive’. Whatever the theme I go for, the final outcome should be an imaginative brand, along with a well-designed brand guideline and touchpoints. It’s a brand identity project but the brief does specify that the brand does not have to restrict itself to the conventions of a brand, for example, a product-based company. Hence, it can vary from small-scale projects like a community club, an activist initiative to larger-scale ones like a digital service corporation or a presidential campaign identity, anything brandable.
1. Sustainability
First, I needed to pick a brief. From the first time, I instantly knew that my FYP would lean towards the ‘Inclusive’ side than the other one. This can be traced back to the experience of being the quiet kid in class, lack of self-confidence, getting made fun of for my beliefs, my hyper judgemental personality,... since the past up until now. The experience was so much to the point that I internalized that and accepted it as what it had always been for me. The idea of inclusiveness simply reflects my desire and aligns with my values just like how I always try to be compassionate (though my mind is round the clock full of skepticism). On the other hand, sustainability is just not my thing, I don’t feel much relatable with the term besides frequently hearing it as a buzzword people do to counteract current environmental issues. The closest ‘sustainable’ practice I did is having to spend my monthly allowance wisely, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to survive in this expensive Singapore. My lack of awareness for sustainability is maybe because the environment where I grew up isn’t any more aware of it than me. Besides, the privilege of growing in an already well-provided city leaves me no room to think about sustainable ways because I don't need that practically.
I choose inclusiveness right from the start. However, to make sure, I did get to ask for my friend’s opinion. The friend (neither/nor) [1] I’m referring to does have some background knowledge in sociology, design, and also has some experience working in NGOs. Since both of the brief’s themes revolve around the current tendency of social developments nowadays, neither would be a great source of information. On what is called ‘a sustainable brand’, neither gave me a critical insight that there can be no such a thing (in the context of not destroying the environment) since much of what brands do these days is to promote consumption and the more one consumes, the more damage our environment gets. To fully devote to the term ‘sustainability’, we have to destroy brands, which is the only thing my brief is definitely not asking for? Therefore, I think the term ‘sustainability’ here is more or less a tactic to compensate for the environmental damage; or slow down the process; or worse, just simply a marketing strategy. ‘All of the fancy sustainable solutions in the world can be simply replaced by consuming less’ said neither. For example, if we try to brand a restaurant as a sustainable brand and we really determine to achieve that by using sustainable materials for the food, the cutleries or the packaging, it will reduce the waste to some extent. However, the branding itself will of course lead to more sales, meaning more consumption than if it was not branded like so, all of which, in turn, counteract our attempt to offset the environmental harms. I think that’s the paradox of this theme since we will always be left with the question of how much sustainability is sustainable enough while still making ends meet. For that, sustainability should be a way of thinking for brands who genuinely want to make an impact on the environment rather than a branding strategy like a label or a catchphrase. Because, if a brand is associated with ‘sustainability’, the branding strategy is likely to be counterproductive because as the scale escalates, customers get to see the big picture of that brand, exposing not-so-sustainable practices here and there. Even if those practices are inevitable or unintentional because of some small mismanagements, costs, industry standards or whatever the excuses are; the brand ethos will get questioned by customers.
A great example of this is that a few years ago in Vietnam, a young and upcoming fashion brand probably pioneering the ‘sustainability’ trend in Vietnam got called out because its founder directed a fashion collection for a corporation notorious for unethical practices on the environment (like demolishing an entire landscape to make theme parks, in which the mentioned collection will be displayed). Even though the dots seem quite far to make a connection and whether the founder knows about their practice or not, customers really have some serious expectations when a brand calls itself ‘sustainable’, meaning the attempt has to be whole-hearted from founders to staff. The responsibility to wield the term ‘sustainability’ and show it off to the world should be well aware. As such, brand and sustainability are mutually exclusive for me. I know that it is almost impossible to reach the far ends of the ‘sustainability’ spectrum as the world is not just black and white. However, public opinion, through the narrow and distorted lens of social media, is easy to fall into this binary mentality and brands are all about public perception. Considering long-term development, a sustainable branding might not be so self-sustainable. Perhaps ‘sustainable consumption’ should be a more appropriate term in lieu of an original ‘sustainability’ in the context of branding; unless my idea is to brand a social/communication campaign that shuts down all brands.
Aside from the previous critical thoughts, I still think that finding a balance on that tightrope between sustainability and self-sustainability can be an objective for design, a fun one indeed for the FYP. Delving into this rabbit hole is surely taking a lot of my time but it also helps me to realize things that will also go quite similar to my selected theme ‘inclusivity’. It also consolidated why I should be all in for ‘inclusivity’
2. Inclusivity
About inclusiveness? Who needs to be included? From what I said earlier, the selection came naturally from my personal experience; so I had looked back throughout my childhood up until now to see which identity I had taken on, which groups of people I once belonged to in order to find out what my FYP will be about. Through time, I discovered a few interesting things that characterized me: a reserved boy who is soft, often feels intimidated by other people, a Roman Catholic follower (but not so devoted to), and a boy whose literally entire family had a long history of belonging to reactionary forces against the Vietnamese government. The first identity is the most relatable, the most me thing since it is the least affected by the surroundings, probably the cause of why I always feel like being excluded. Meanwhile the former two were externally injected into me by my parents throughout my childhood.
3. A soft man
Okay now I have 3 ideas to choose for the FYP, the filter here is picking which feels more legit and widely relevant when I refer to the term ‘inclusive’. The first one is about people who identify themselves as males but are softer in behavior than what is considered an alpha male standard. I think that is a nice topic, combating toxic masculinity, diversifying bois. However, although I felt most related to this one, the topic didn’t really inspire me enough for it to become an actual FYP.
4. A Christian
Next up, the Chirstian identity. This identity was passed down to me by my parents who are really devoted to the religion. When I was in primary school up until the start of my secondary school, just like any other Christian kids, my parents sent me to a catechism class to learn about our religion. The class’s activity I think quite resembles a boy scout group in the Western countries. And like any other Christian kids (I assume), I really didn’t like the fact that I had to set aside almost 3 hours every Sunday for that activity? Isn’t school tiring enough? Besides having to study, I was also sent to be an altar boy, who helped the priest with small tasks during a church ritual or a Mass. I actually enjoyed the role as the responsibility is quite repetitive and it created a healthy habit for me as well, like waking up early because I always signed up for the early morning Mass schedule. The one thing I didn’t like was the other altar boys, like I didn’t really belong to their community, which was one of the reasons why I dropped it after several years. As I grew older, I also grew myself out of that Christian community because I realized I could never be the best of myself in such an environment. Not that the environment was bad or what, It is just my capability, my worth, what god gave me wasn’t fit for it. Nonetheless, I still upheld the belief even if I had to make room for other ideologies, other contradicting thoughts that might challenge it throughout my lifetime. Though compromised, Christianity is still an important persona that constitutes myself as a whole. It’s just that I wanted to practice with my own ‘customs’, combining my own moralities and personal values.
About the Christian identity, I had always had the feeling that this religion and its values contradict a common conception of Vietnamese identity and the Vietnamese ritual traditions. Despite being the second (or third) most followed religious group in the country (according to the 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Vietnam), it lacks a significant portion of representation in the mainstream media and public awareness. I hardly found any advertisements, movies or TV shows in my memory that features Vietnamese Christians and their culture as part of the Vietnamese identity. Most of the Vietnamese traditions depicted in the media mostly revolve around folk religions and Buddhism, whose culture and values are way different from mine as a Christian, or more specifically, as a Catholic. This can explain why I have often felt a sense of alienation when looking at people doing ‘Cúng’ with incense or paying visits to pagodas on TV during Tết (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) because we don’t have such things in my religion. Instead, we recite the Lord’s prayer and go to church mass during Tết. Another example is that whenever I mention that I am a Catholic, 9 out of 10 times Vietnamese people will show me a surprised face and ask me questions like ‘Do I have to attend church?’. Damn I guess Christianity might be the only religion in Vietnam making its followers practice the ritual on a weekly basis? In Singapore, people would just react with a poker face. Another typical example of being a Vietnamese Christianity is that I find it awkward making the sign of the cross before I eat anything in public as nearby people often give me a strange, curious glance, which makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. The list of examples illustrating why I avoid presenting myself as a Christian in Vietnam will go on forever. It’s definitely not because there is any kind of discrimination but more like that it still feels like an exotic, a foreign culture, not in a negative sense. Being a Christian doesn’t feel authentic as a Vietnamese to me. This reminds me of a reading about the early days of Christian missionaries in Vietnam:
‘... Nguyễn lord* was also displeased with another issue, that is, when the Annamite** converts wanted to prove their faith in God, they wore pictures, crosses, and prayer beads on their necks. This frightened many people. However, the priests cleverly persuaded them not to wear those things anymore to avoid discrimination and isolation from the community …’ Extracts from Cuộc phiêu lưu của Alexandre de Rhodes ở Viễn Đông | Luật Khoa tạp chí (luatkhoa.com)
*Nguyễn lord, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, ruled the southern Vietnam from 1613 to 1635.
** Annamite referred to Vietnamese people during the time.
I think that’s why I feel not so inclusive of Vietnamese identity. Christianity had been around Vietnam for as long as 400 years, which is a short period of time compared to other religious pillars like Buddhism or ancestor worship. Nevertheless, Christianity still manages to grow to the largest number of adherents at the moment, making up to 7 percent of the population (a rather humble percentage to be honest, yet still the largest). Besides, the Christian missionary in Vietnam also resulted in the birth of our Vietnamese alphabet, the romanized scripts as we know today. Talking about historical facts, another thing why Christianity is not so popular is because of its association with colonialism, which traumatized Vietnam for hundreds of years with the Indochina wars. In Vietnam, the expansion of Christianity followed along (and maybe took advantage of) the footsteps of the outside colonizers. I assume the impression that a Western culture will come and wipe out the Vietnamese identity has been instilled into generations of people, especially the elders. In fact, the Catholic community has a long history of resisting and struggling against the Vietnamese Communist Party, which is intertwined with events during and after the Vietnam War. I assume if asking 10 random Catholic Vietnamese, 9 of them will start scolding the government, especially in the South.
The situation is definitely improving but the conventional belief about a Vietnamese person will remain firm. Hence, it is all about the inclusivity of the Vietnamese identity, which is not about the ethnic minority group but rather a religious majority group. I had not conducted much research, but I think the problem is quite subtle and perhaps not very much discussed at the moment.
5. A South Vietnamese
Following the topic of conflicts with the government, the last identity seems to be the most controversial one as it quite contradicts what Vietnamese generally know (and what I was taught at school) about the Vietnam War. This identity is also an inherited one by my family. A bit of the background story, the Vietnam War is widely known as a “ a crusade to “fight against the United States and save the country” (Cuộc kháng chiến chống Mỹ cứu nước)” extracts from Reunification Without Reconciliation: A Glimpse Into The Social Conflicts And Integration Process In Postwar Vietnam (thevietnamese.org). In this narrative, the Northern Vietnamese people were the protagonists, while the American invaders and their Southern Vietnamese counterparts were the villains, framed as "American puppets'' (bọn tay sai ngụy quân ngụy quyền). The result of the war was to everyone’s knowledge that on 30/4/1975, the Northern Vietnamese people liberated the whole country, putting an end to the hundred years of colonization and division. While this is an oversimplification of the events, it is the common impression held by most Vietnamese people, particularly youths who learn about Vietnamese history through textbooks and the lens of the socialist Vietnamese government. Personally, I wasn't any different. I wasn't particularly interested in exploring history and only studied it as a compulsory subject in school. However, my family background is different from most others, as both my paternal and maternal sides were either working for or in favor of the Southern government during the war (my grand uncle was even the former major general of Republic of Vietnam Marine Division). In other words, they were the so-called "American puppets'' in my 8th grade history book, whose perception of the war was the total opposite. Plus my Christian background, I guess my family can be situated on the other end of the spectrum, like the really far end from the social norms. It was really confusing for me to grow up in such an environment. Throughout my childhood, while I was fed with history lessons from school that praised the Liberation of Vietnam from the Americans, family stories from my dads told me a much different perspective. Maybe the same thing that both versions equally share is how harsh and negative one is towards the other.
Every year when the Reunification Day 30th April approached, my father would always jokingly refer to the event as the National Day of Resentment (ngày Quốc Hận) or the Black April (Tháng tư đen), and that there was nothing about it to celebrate. All those little chats on the topic between me and my dad were often about how life was different back then with the ‘then’ seemingly portrayed as a freedom paradise. ‘It was a place that put the human factor first, allowing all voices to be heard, a really progressive nation, like America’ said my dad. Sometimes, he told me how bad the Communists were towards our Southern people, what ‘crimes’ they did, and so on. At the time, those little stories or microhistories seemed to be more persuasive because they were filled with real emotion and funny narration rather than history textbooks with very dried pre-written content, forcing me to memorize by heart (unfortunately that was how they taught the history in my country). When I brought something up from the Vietnamese history textbook, my dad would contemplate it with a great deal of skepticism and sometimes even dismiss it as mere propaganda. However, I didn’t question much but rather enjoyed the conversations as mere stories. They were like fairy tales told during bedtime that accompanied me throughout my childhood. Beyond my father, I actually overheard all the little talks from my uncles or my grandparents during family meetings. On the Internet, there were lots of elders, particularly those from overseas, moaning about what had been lost. Even today, some go to extremes to condemn the government and its supporters with terms like 'bò đỏ' (red bull), which describes those who excessively idolize Communist leaders without a well-rounded understanding of history and politics. Others use terms like 'dư luận viên' to describe those who promote government propaganda, and 'bị nhồi sọ' to describe those who have been indoctrinated by the Communists. Like my father, they all held a negative perspective against the government, which I thought initially was just pure discontentment with authority at best. However, the problems went much deeper than that.
During my 9th grade, as I shared my family's history with friends, I was met with a derisive reaction and ridiculed, as if my background was something to be ashamed of. I was even jokingly referred to as a 'phản động,' a term that connotes treason, widely used to cancel anyone expressing a political opposition against our government often as a way to make fun of them. Even though the labeling was done in jest, I still felt deeply embarrassed for sharing my family story, despite never suspecting it to be an issue in the first place. As a kid who didn’t research much on the topic, I simply just played along, letting it roll off my back. At that moment, it dawned on me that my family's story was not something to be shared casually, and I resolved to keep it within where it originated from. If anyone ever mentioned it, I would make it clear that I preferred to remain neutral on the issue. Actually, on the Internet, if anyone expressed their opinions on this matter like me, they would immediately get bombarded with scolding comments/interactions by a horde of Vietnamese people. Besides ‘phản động, they would also be called names like ‘ba que’ - meaning 3 sticks, a sarcastic reference to the flag of the old Southern government - or ‘đu càng’ - a term ridiculing the Southerners' attempt to board the evacuation helicopters to escape the Communists on the Reunification Day. The word list is just getting more creative. While I was browsing my Facebook feeds, I would occasionally come across those scolding comments, some of which were even from people in my friendlist ironically. Even though I was just a bystander, seeing those ugly words targeting them caused me a twinge of hurt. The mere suggestion of revising history to favor the Southern government or simply telling how life was under that government was enough to trigger cancel culture, which has become common sense in our society. It might seem an overstatement but that is the reality there. While kids might dismiss them as ‘cringe’, adults might label them ‘phản động’. People who didn’t care might tell them to stop living in the past. Even if my ‘treason’ background was exposed to the Internet, I would likely face the same disdain and contempt that my friends did, but on a much larger scale. Whatever was written inside the history books and broadcasted on the state media had been deeply ingrained in the minds of Vietnamese, specifically the younger generation. Even I, who was exposed to my family more, would sometimes doubt whether they were right or not.
It is easy for people to quickly jump into the conclusion with their history knowledge, which is either the generalization of the war or their bias towards one side. Although both the ‘red side’ (Communist regime supporters) and ‘yellow side’ (opposition) frequently lash out at each other, the former tends to display more extreme behavior, driven by their overwhelming majority, and a nationalistic attitude (particularly after the pandemic). This is often attributed to their young age and exposure to socialist education, which has left them with an intolerant attitude towards the past.
I eventually became indifferent towards all of this, realizing that digging up and discussing the past (and it was not even my past) in such a polarized environment was pointless and only led to more discrimination. The identity was still there but I chose not to disclose it to anyone. As time passed by, my political compass grew to be more neutral as I started to turn a blind eye to such content, scrolling away from the toxicity. All the online quarrels were no longer within my concern anymore. I realized that this approach worked for younger generations like me because I didn't have firsthand experience of the war so all the trauma of the war did not affect us as much. Most of what I knew about it was a mixture from either the diverse perspectives of adults or the state media. However, I still felt a connection to my family's history, likely thanks to all the intimate dad-son conversations, which were simply the elders sharing their things in a really carefree, spontaneous manner. It must have been deeply painful and disheartening for the older generations, numbering in the millions, to have their collective memories rejected in the mainstream narrative of history. It's no wonder that many of them are still unable to move on from the past.
6. Summary & selection
So I had 3 identities, 3 communities. Some are more obviously excluded than others. I asked my friend [2] about which one to choose. She advised me on the first identity because it seemed a more global topic, more relevant to the current generation who are more engaging in gender-related issues/battling social norms. On my side, I would prefer a more local issue that vibes personally and is something rarely touched on. The first one, as I said earlier, was what I resonate with but only in a very subtle way. I like the last two more as it can be traced back to my family in one way or another. Initially, when I came up with the three options, I already had a preference in mind, which was the last one. If I was in a Vietnamese college, this option would be nipped in the bud without question. I simply click with the reactionary or ‘phản động’ attitude as how it is now being overtly misused without regarding the context, or whether the labeled person is truly extreme. I just felt deeply compassionate for it. Taking advantage of not being in Vietnam now, I want to do something that can only be done if I am an overseas student. It pays tribute to why I decided to go abroad in the first place, why my parents insisted on sending me away from home, and a reflection of my whole tertiary education.
My final topic:
- the inclusivity of Southern memories.
- the reconciliation of Vietnam, not with any other countries but rather within itself.
II. Brand Research
1. References, resources & materials
From the start, I knew for sure that it’s gonna be damn hard for me, at least I should expect blacklashes since I’m dealing with a serious and sensitive issue, which still disrupts the whole country after the war ends. Like I need to be super cautious in my use of words, my message, what type of brand, what medium,… to communicate my good intention. Hence, I called my friend [1] to consult. Neither was very supportive of my topic, which I really appreciated, especially considering that neither is originally from the Northern side of Vietnam. This is actually the stereotype I need to get rid of, thinking that all Northerners might share a similar biased view on this matter. Neither recommended some helpful online resources, one of which is this website Luật Khoa tạp chí (luatkhoa.com) (Luật Khoa journal). Here is an extract from their about page (translated in English):
‘Luật Khoa Tạp chí is a legal publication established on November 5, 2014 with the purpose of providing legal information and knowledge to the community, discussing legal issues as well as professional activities of lawyers and law students, promoting legal studies and research in Vietnam.
With the aim of building a useful legal magazine for readers, Luật Khoa Tạp chí upholds the principles of press freedom and academic freedom above all, while rejecting any political, religious or commercial tendency. The articles published in Luật Khoa Tạp chí may express various and even opposing legal perspectives, but always ensure scientific rigor.‘
This is perfectly what I need for my research as it contains a plethora of writings and articles about my topic. They even published a separate issue devoted exclusively to Việt Nam Cộng Hòa, the former Southern Vietnamese government, which is a super valuable resource as it provides a rare and in-depth discussion of the topic in the Vietnamese language. Most of the Vietnamese resources I have come across have been personal blogs recounting individual experiences like my family’s stories, or Wikipedia articles. On the other hand, there are countless English resources available online, including books, published papers, and web archives. Some of those materials are probably inaccessible to Internet users in Vietnam, framed as anti-government or ‘phản động’ by the authorities, which is why I was not really aware of them until now.
1. Thư viện Vinadia (vinadia.org): A site collecting various war literature pieces, especially those prohibited in Vietnam, including Giải khăn sô cho Huế by Nhã Ca, which I am currently reading.
2. (PDF) Reunification without Reconciliation?: Social Conflicts and Integration in Vietnam after 1975 1) (researchgate.net/publication/355396814_Reunification_without_Reconciliation_Social_Conflicts_and_Integration_in_Vietnam_after_1975_1) A research paper on the topic of reconciliation in Vietnam.
4. The Boat | SBS (sbs.com.au/theboat/) A web interactive experience recounting the traumatized experiences of the boat people.
5. Memories of Indochina | Decolonization and war experienced by the populations of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (indomemoires.hypotheses.org) A research blog site on the history of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, that reverses the accepted narrative of official histories.
6. Journal of Vietnamese Studies | University of California Press (online.ucpress.edu/jvs) A journal publishing original social science and humanities research about Vietnamese history, politics, culture, and society. It also covers topics related to the Vietnamese diaspora and the Vietnam War.
7. NguoiNamKy.com – Lịch sử, văn hoá, đời sống xứ Nam Kỳ (nguoinamky.com) A site focusing on the perspectives of Vietnamese living in the Western region, presented in an informal manner.
8. Nam Kỳ Lục Tỉnh (namkyluctinh.org) A forum for editors and writers, regardless of their place of birth, to write about Southern Vietnam.
9. The Sympathizer and The Committed, 2 famous Vietnam War literature pieces by Viet Thanh Nguyen, recommended by a friend [3] after I shared with her about my project:
‘The Sympathizer’ will be adapted to a television series by A24 coming in 2024.
10. Many more others… It’s really easy to find such information on the Internet.
Below are some resources for images or old documents:
1. manhhai’s albums | Flickr an archive of Vietnamese historic images.
2. ☮︎✿ Vietnam War — Are.na an archive of mostly images of anti-Vietnam War protesting.
3. Thương Mái Trường Xưa (thuong mai truong xua.vn) an archive of old Vietnamese student textbooks, children newspaper, school documents, …
4. Thư viện Người Việt (nguoi-viet.com) an archive of books, newspapers, journal issues, .. published under the South Vietnam regime and after the Reunification Day (from the Vietnamese diaspora overseas.)
Videos:
1. Tung Tăng Khắp Miền - YouTube Kênh youtube Tung Tăng Khắp Miền với chủ đề Du lịch, trải nghiệm, văn hóa, ẩm thực mang phong cách "bụi". Phương tiện chính của mình trong các chuyến đi là xe máy, mình vừa là nhân vật trải nghiệm đồng thời cũng là người quay phim... Nói tóm lại là tự đi du lịch một mình để ghi lại hình ảnh về những vùng đất, những miền quê, các thắng cảnh, các địa danh gắn liền với câu chuyện lịch sử.... để chia sẻ cùng các bạn.
2. Type of brand
Back to my brand, initially, I had no idea what my brand was gonna be about. All I had was a vague concept and my only concrete idea was only its medium, which is a photo book about my family since it would be a safe and personal way to explore the topic. I drew inspiration from this project ⋱Viet Archive⋰ (@vietarchive) • Instagram photos and videos, which is: “a growing photograph-based archive of Vietnamese life and traditions. ︎Digitization, sourcing, + archiving of old photographs from Viet families, curation of collections within archive, web design, C6 mailers for the archive’s contributors” extracted from the project description.
I really love this project not only for its aesthetics but also for what it stands for - diversifying the Vietnamese identity away from being stereotypically associated with war and politics in the context of the Viet community in the U.S. (I assumed). My project is kinda similar in the diversification of Viet memories, especially those avoided from the public sphere in Vietnam.
However, building an entire brand from such a small starting point as a book is basically constructing from the roof down. I had to think of a more logical approach. The question is what brand would revolve around the 2 goals above. It could be a reconciliation event, a private educational initiative, a social campaign, or an NGO. A Viet archive project like the one above to spread and share Southern voices could also work. However, since the project nature could be experimental, I wanted to push it even further, to create something exciting yet not too unrealistic. After some draft ideas, I opted for 2 options, which were actually quite akin:
- A hypothetical national holiday
- A hypothetical reconciliation event
3. Brand name
The brand also needed a suitable name so I just threw in a few options. Probably, I would lean towards a Vietnamese name for it to be more evocative:
- Reconciliation day/ngày Hòa Giải - in contrast with Reunification day
- The other memories
- The concord
- Interdependence day ??? - in contrast with Independence day
- Side by side
- Ngày đồng bào (Compatriot day). Đồng Bào is a term we use to refer to other Vietnamese people, which carries a sense of intimacy and closeness.
- 5 Anh em (5 brothers)
- Nối vòng tay lớn (The great circle/Joining Hands/Circle of Unity). This is the title of a famous song by the musician Trịnh Công Sơn. It was sung by the musician himself and broadcasted on Saigon radio during the final moments of the Vietnam War to encourage people not to flee from the advancing Northern Liberators and stay back to reconstruct the whole nation. To Vietnamese people, regardless of political views, the song really symbolizes peace, friendship and reunification.
- Nam Bắc Một Nhà (South and North are brothers). This name is derived from an image taken at the Ben Hai riverside in the Demilitarized Zone, 17th Parallel, during the Vietnam War. The image just felt so reminiscent
I remembered I first came across the image on this local fashion brand instagram *****.
They also uploaded another image in 2022, just before the image above 1 day. I cannot show it here but it was an art installation simply displaying 2 flags, red and yellow side by side, representing the current Vietnamese government and the old Republic of Vietnam, respectively. The installation is named ‘Side By Side’. Regardless of whether it was intended or not, their decision to post the image was a bold move, reflected through the polarized comment section flooded with praising comments alternated with condemnations. Whether it was well-intentioned or not, when those users caught a sight of 3 red stripes with yellow background, natural instincts kicked in and they started scolding mindlessly without even skimming the caption. Fortunately, it was just an online image and the actual installation was in the U.S. (as described from the caption). Carrying the yellow flag in public in Vietnam could result in trouble or even arrest.
I consulted my lecturer [4] about the brand and the name. She thought the idea of a speculative national day would be interesting. For the name, she said I should avoid English names if my audience were mostly Vietnamese. She also pointed out that the name 'đồng bào' has similarities to the term 'dong bao' in Chinese, which also carries a similar meaning. After a quick search, I found out that the term was actually shared among not only Vietnamese, but also Chinese and Korean cultures. In Vietnam, the term is used by Vietnamese people to refer to each other within Vietnam only, but for Vietnamese people living abroad, they are referred to as "kiều bào" or more commonly, "Việt kiều". After the consultation, I reassured my lecturer that my project would not cross the borderline, cause controversies or anything like that at least in Singapore (I hope). I made sure to be careful with any message I put out there.
Although I have yet to decide on a name for the brand, summarily, ‘my brand is committed to promoting reconciliation through a National Day of remembrance that empathizes with all war victims, regardless of their beliefs or affiliations. On this occasion, we honor all memories and acknowledge all losses.’ extracted from the brand styleguide book.
4. Research on ‘Reconciliation’
Earlier, I said my brand goal is: the inclusivity of Southern memories and the reconciliation of Vietnam within itself. However, now I feel like the former is more like the sub-goal of the latter, which means reconciliation would be my main objective.
Reconciliation is such a big topic that there seems to be no common ground at least in the near future. As such, it has always been a never-ending debate in and outside the country, which resurfaces on 30/4 every year, much like a tradition. On the internet, there is already a myriad of articles, writings, discussions on the subject, ranging from formal research papers to facebook threads, and opinions expressed across the spectrum from extreme to neutral. I put some below that I have read for reference if you want to dig deep into the topic:
3. Honoring the Dead — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)
4. Hòa giải và hòa hợp dân tộc: CSVN không thể chỉ kêu gọi suông — Tiếng Việt (rfa.org)
5. Thượng tướng Nguyễn Chí Vịnh: Hoà hợp, hoà giải dân tộc đã thành công (vtc.vn)
There had been actually several efforts from the government in recent years - Hòa hợp dân tộc: Hòa hợp dân tộc và những câu chuyện lịch sử chưa từng được kể | VTV.VN - with a substantial highlight on the reopening of the ARVN National Military Cemetery of Bien Hoa after decades of abandonment. Not discussing if these attempts were genuine or not, what I observed from the state media is that most of them were aimed at those who had fled the country in the past, the Vietnamese diaspora scattered all around the globe, also known as ‘Việt kiều’. I just couldn't help but think, what about people like my family who chose to stay back (or couldn’t leave)? They too suffered just as much as those who risked their lives leaving their home, yet the reconciliation efforts were not really inclusive for them. I think that a more well-rounded reconciliation attempt should be dedicated to the whole body of the Southern community regardless of their whereabouts.
Although the attempts were supposed to call a halt to the discrimination, I wasn’t really aware of them until I started working on this project. Perhaps these attempts were more known to adults than the younger generation. In my personal experience, what I learned at school and saw on social media still perpetuated negative attitudes towards the discriminated group. I guess many young people will continue to view South Vietnam as evil remnants of the past until the term “puppet regime” or the act of criminalizing them stops being used at a grassroot level, i.e. in educational settings. Speaking of young people, there was a similar case recently involving Hanni, a Vietnamese-Australian singer and member of the rising K-pop group NewJeans. She faced online harassment and criticism due to accusations that her family has ties to the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). One could observe that a significant proportion of the extreme reactions were from young people who are particularly invested in K-pop culture. I will put an extraction from a writing from Quoc Tan Trung Nguyen analyzing this incident, Backlash against K-pop star Hanni shows Vietnam still struggles with the legacy of the war (theconversation.com):
‘The Vietnamese-Australian singer Hanni of the K-pop group NewJeans recently came under fire and faced online harassment for her family’s supposed links to the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).
In February 2023, a K-pop Facebook group called K Crush Động published pictures that allegedly showed members of Hanni’s family in Australia. K Crush Động is one of the biggest K-pop forums in Vietnam, with more than half a million members.
The forum pointed out old emblems of the South Vietnamese regime inside the family’s house and businesses. After several online “investigations,” Hanni’s family was accused by forum members of still being loyal to South Vietnam.
The campaigns against Hanni quickly gained national attention. Major Vietnamese outlets, such as Tuổi Trẻ and Người Lao Động, covered the news. The online uproar over Hanni is emblematic of the unfinished reconciliation process after the Vietnam War.’
Another case that also really happened recently is the censorship of Ke Huy Quan’s speech when he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at the 95th Academy Awards. After thanking his mother, he began his speech by sharing his background: ‘My journey started on a boat, I spent a year in a refugee camp, and somehow, I ended up here, on Hollywood's biggest stage’. This sparked controversies about his refugee background in Vietnam. Here is an extraction from Ke Huy Quan, Sinophobia, and the Controversy Surrounding His Vietnamese Cultural Identity (thevietnamese.org):
But while some Vietnamese only want to distance themselves from the actor in their search for identity, the Vietnamese government wants to cover up a core part of who Ke Huy Quan is: a refugee who escaped Vietnam by boat to seek freedom following the end of the war in 1975. As a result, state media censored any mention of the words “boat” and “refugee camps” from the actor’s Oscar acceptance speech.
Half a century after the boat people crisis, this mass exodus of 800,000 Vietnamese between 1975 and 1995 remains largely unknown to most young Vietnamese.
By constantly burying inconvenient truths, the Communist regime has perpetuated a public trauma that could tear Vietnamese society apart.
Speaking of historical truths, the Boat People crisis, along with other significant events such as the Re-education Camps or the New Economic Zone, have been met with a similar fate of being avoided and not discussed openly in public settings since this could shed light on the trauma that Vietnamese people in the South had undergone during the post-war period. To recognize that trauma is a central goal of the reconciliation process - the inclusivity of Southern memories, which no reconciliation attempts had been able to fulfill.
Recently, I had a small chat with my friend [5], who had a background in Conflict Studies and Human Rights, about the Hanni’s backlashes case and the Vietnamese reconciliation. As I remembered, she uploaded an Instagram story about the case that ended with a line indicating that it was not the right time to reconcile. The conversation went like this:
February 7, 2023 1:03 pm
You replied to their story
Hei ******, can I ask why you think it's not time for reconciliation?
My point isn't that it's not time for reconciliation, but rather that I disagree with the notion that the war is a thing of the past and that the focus now should only be on reconciliation and international integration. Simply put, I don't believe in accepting and forgiving the past, which doesn't mean being haunted by war or nostalgic like Mr. Trung suggested. I believe that we need to always remember the imperial crimes because they fundamentally changed not only the fate of a country but also the socio-political landscape of third world countries. They brought dependence, altered cultures, caused pain to many people, and are still existing. Therefore, the idea of reconciliation to heal the wounds of war seems quite ironic to me.
At first, I was really confused about how imperialism was any relevant to the topic we were talking about right there. Then I realized maybe she was talking about the reconciliation between Vietnam and the U.S. In Vietnamese, the ‘reconciliation’ term is translated as "hòa hợp/hòa giải," which is dedicated to reconciling between different sides within Vietnam. In contrast, the English term "reconciliation" seems to imply a reconciliation between Vietnam and other nations that had conflicts with Vietnam, such as China or France. During our conversation, I used the term "reconciliation," which may have caused confusion. But let’s put that aside for now, I think her point made sense also in the case of the Vietnamese reconciliation. From my observation, most of the reconciliation attempts by the government only aimed to promote that we should forget and forgive the past to move forward. In this context, forgiveness here emphasizes that the Vietnamese people will forgive the crimes of those Southerners and that there is nothing to be ashamed of. Hòa hợp, hòa giải dân tộc – chủ trương, chính sách nhất quán của Đảng và Nhà nước ta - Tạp chí Quốc phòng toàn dân (tapchiqptd.vn). Damn, it seems like the Southerners are left wondering what crimes they actually committed. Instead of recognition, the government's focus seems to be more on integration/”hòa hợp”, rather than "hòa giải" or true reconciliation. This is like an ‘I am sorry it’s your fault, but we forgive you’ attitude, which people like my family could not come to terms with. However, I also understand why this might have been the best the government could afford, which can be summed up in the conclusion of the paper ‘Reunification without Reconciliation?: Social Conflicts and Integration in Vietnam after 1975’ from Martin Grossheim:
‘The gist of the matter is this: to truly recognize the Republic of Vietnam as a legitimate actor in the modern history of Vietnam and to analyze why so many Vietnamese left in 1978 and the following years would simply undermine the celebratory master narrative propagated by VCP (Vietnamese Communist Party) and as a consequence undermine its legitimacy. For the moment the gatekeepers in Hanoi have prevailed and it seems that the VCP only allows reconciliation on its own terms’
I just have a quick thought that if the goal was solely ‘hòa hợp’/integration, it is understandable why the reconciliation attempts were only meant for the Viet community residing overseas, not for those already living within Vietnam.
I suppose true reconciliation may hardly be achieved, or it may only be attempted in a superficial way through mottos and slogans, or is it even necessary in the first place ?
III. Talk with People
1. Chat with dad [6]
Besides relying on only online resources, I was also keen to seek my dad’s perspective on the topic. At first, I was hesitant to approach him as I wasn't sure how to explain my FYP to someone from an older generation. Eventually, I mustered the courage to give him a call. As expected, my father's initial reaction was simply "Why?" and then to make matters worse, he advised me against pursuing anything related to the topic of "Southern Vietnam." He told me to redirect my focus to something more futuristic rather than digging up the past. I guess he still thought that my specialization in graphic design was something linked to technological fields as what most Asian parents assumed. Khỏi phải nói, I was so shook and let down, feeling as if my efforts were pointless. I was really disappointed as someone whose stories had been an indispensable part of my childhood, inspiring me to do this project, was now telling me to forget it. However, I stood my ground, remained calm and told him that it was already decided so I could not just undo it.
Later on, I convinced myself that maybe he was just worried for me as touching on such a highly sensitive topic like that could get me into trouble. I explained my FYP more carefully to my dad to avoid any misconceptions he might have in the first time. Fortunately, it was received with more acceptance this time. I wanted to ask him about what he thought about the reconciliation attempt from the government and how an ideal reconciliation event would be realized to him. For the first question, his points were mostly aligned with what I thought previously, dismissing them as just propagandas or for some other purposes besides . For the second one, he listed a few proposals that was relevant to m:
- Establishing a martyrs and veterans priority mode for the former Republic of Vietnam soldiers
- Policies to recognize war victims, rebuilding cemeteries
- Acknowledging the cultural values of the South
- Recognizing the efforts of the Republic of Vietnam against China's invasion of the Paracel and Spratly Islands/Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa islands (As from my research, this was already recognized but not widely propagated to the mass, Thừa nhận Việt Nam cộng hòa là bước tiến quan trọng - Tuổi Trẻ Online (tuoitre.vn))
I think it had been quite a while since my dad and I last talked about this topic, so it must have felt a bit odd for him when I suddenly brought it up. Nevertheless, he was willing to share more with me. I asked him if the older generation he had spoken to were still opposed to the idea of South Vietnam. To my surprise, he didn't experience the same extreme response that I did. About the name, after a brief discussion, Both me and my dad liked the option for ‘Nam Bắc Một Nhà’. I also mentioned that I plan to meet with my grandparents and older uncle during my next trip to Vietnam in the coming weeks to further strengthen my research.
IV. Design Process
1. Logo + system
I made a few design options for the logo. The process is simple, trying various fonts. I wanted the typography to mimic that of the old Vietnamese sign boards. The typefaces used were from various resources, Republish - a Digital Revival of Vietnamese Typography project of Behalf Studio in Vietnam Republish — A Vietnamese Typography Project, Nguyen Type Foundry - my friend’s type foundry in Vietnam, and Google Font. However, I didn't really like the idea of my brand's look and feel going down the path of stereotypical ‘vintage’ aesthetics since we are approaching an old topic but in a newer way.
Besides the traditional geometric look, I also tried different variations of the famous Bodoni as I saw those highly-contrasted serif typefaces with small width being used quite often in old Southern newspapers. Luckily I had the Adobe account from school to access a few exclusive variations of Bodoni.
I tried some more pictorial style to form some kind of visual representations, like the mountains or tweaking the text to mimic a waving flag. However, the end result appeared dated and traditional, as if it was created five years ago. Both the design and concept seemed out of touch with current trends.
Typefaces used are: Bodoni MT, Bodoni-PosterCompressed Bold, Bodoni URW
I tried some more modern iterations
Typefaces used are: Coquette Light, ITCFranklinGothic LT Pro CnDm, ITC Avant Garde Gothic Pro Book, Roslindale Display, Busorama ITC Bold, ITC Avant Garde Gothic Pro Book, Rialto Regular, Select Mono Italic
I also incorporated the use of sans serif typefaces, especially those with narrower widths as I also saw them often in the official documents from the Southern government. Though most of them had consistently thick stroke width, I saw some having a strong stroke contrast with rigid joints despite being a sans, giving them a really neo-classical feeling.
So some problems arised: As the project’s content would be mainly written in English, I had to use only typefaces that support Vietnamese diacritics.
Typefaces used are: Etna X Condensed, Oswald SemiBold, Classico URW Condensed T, Etna XX Condensed, Acme Gothic Compressed, League Gothic, and Acumin Pro Condensed. If not used, perhaps I will pick one of them out for the body text/secondary typeface.
Combining them with previous pictorial attempts like the waving flag:
Later, I envisioned a new visual concept: the house since the term ‘Một Nhà’ in the brand name ‘Nam Bắc Một Nhà’ means one home
However, I didn’t really like those 4 extra lines. Anyway, Here is the Vietnamese country shape concept, which dropped the readability somewhere…
Concept the house again, but this time I rotated the characters. Looks like Nam (South) and Bắc (North) are saluting to each other, which is kinda interesting to me:
The concept was nice but the execution was not really there yet… It looked more playful than it should be. However, I suddenly thought of a thin typeface that is 45 degree slanted - Bourrasque by Bureau Brut, which would solve the problems. However, this typeface didn’t support Vietnamese diacritics, so I just forcedly added some to test first… I also tried some English translation variations.
It looks decent to me somehow. Here are some color selections. Conceptually, I wanted to use the color pair red and yellow as those hues are both present in the two flags. However, I have come to realize that the color red can be a bit too aggressive and may bring to mind the image of blood and war. That’s why I shifted it to a more pinkier hue, promoting love and friendship.
The colors I eyedropper-ed it from these Southern Vietnamese archived materials:
I also tried to customize the text to make the ‘Nam Bắc’ and ‘Một Nhà’ centrally aligned, while still maintaining a small house in the middle. From mixing with another typeface for the lower half to altering its type form a bit.
I also explored some alternative color iterations, experimenting with shades of green and blue. I chose these colors because they are both neutral yet energetic, providing a strong contrast to the overwhelming feeling of the reddish pink.
Some other variations regarding the structure and placement using the same font:
Some trials on text color - Below are the 2 official names of Vietnam now (Left) and the former Republic of Vietnam (Right).
I presented my work-in-progress design to my lecturer [4] for feedback. She suggested that I should avoid using the 45-degree slanted typeface as it might negatively impact the legibility of the text. Instead, typing my brand name out with one of the sans fonts was already enough. Additionally, she mentioned that my attempt to incorporate the house into the logo seemed a bit forced and lacked a cohesive design aesthetic or what she considered not “designed” enough.
Sadly, I really liked that slanted look though and it made sense for the whole concept too... Still, I wanted to refine the original logo and incorporate the typeface into the system. Below is the option I deem better than the previous one. This time, I used the same slanted treatment for the lower half but slightly shifted it to the left so that both the top and bottom aligned diagonally. The whole silhouette structure took the shape of a parallelogram, which actually matched the original concept.
I went for consultation with another lecturer [7] and he told me that I need to develop and showcase a system of how it would work across media and layouts with various sizes and dimensions. Also, I didn’t understand why I was so absorbed in the logo design process, forgetting about the whole graphic system. Hence, I came up with the idea of using a 45-degree parallelogram as a canvas instead of a rectangle, to better incorporate the 45-degree italics from the typeface into the overall layout. Below is a quick WIP sketch
While the parallelogram concept seems interesting, I am not entirely certain how to effectively incorporate such an unconventional canvas shape across various platforms, the majority of which are rectangular. It seems that I would have to imagine a hypothetical future where people are using devices with parallelogram-shaped screens, like a parallelogram -shaped iPhone or laptop, just to accommodate the brand identity. It might be too overkilled…
From to
Therefore, I tried again but less experimentally. This time, I broke down the logotype, putting them into the 4 corners like below and some similar variations of the approach. I want to envision something that is responsive to multiple sizes, like a website.
However, when testing this layout with actual images and content, I found that it appeared cluttered and overwhelming. Consequently, I decided to simplify the design by transforming the four corners into four slanted lines, as shown below. These lines would serve as anchors to define the structure of every layout.
I also devised more ways to use the system with type.
One thing to notice is that since I want to evoke the attitude of boldness; titles, subtitles and short text will all be centered and pushed all the way to either the top or bottom side of the canvas. The approach generates an abundant amount of white space in the middle, which can be used for images or left blank to even elevate this speak-out-and-loud propaganda -like look and feel.
Originally, the all-center-align approach I took was really inspired by these images below and the following article How to Totally Misread John & Yoko’s “War is Over (If You Want It)” | by WORKSHOP TSL | Medium.
Beyond its explicit goal of ending the war in Vietnam, "War is Over" carried a deeper message. I will put an extraction from the article below:
“War is Over” challenges us to make peace with people: living or dead, present or past. And not just wish for peace or pray for peace: make peace.
I felt like this message resonated with the ongoing ideological war and the process of reconciliation happening in Vietnam.
After a while, I looked back at the 4-stripe thing and thought it was a bit complex to myself… I wanted the vibe I got from the ‘War is Over (If You Want It)’ poster, very bold and straightforward Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm. Maybe it was the way these stripes were so dynamic and could adjust itself according to the text. However, I needed to keep them to represent the brand in the absence of the slanted typeface. Thus, I decided to fix them in place, anchored at those four corners.
I also replaced the red color with cyan since any shade of red would be too intense when paired with yellow. The color was chosen to match the National Front for the Liberation of the South flag (left), as they were historically the group directly fighting against the South Vietnamese government (right). This made sense for the project, as it focused more on Southern Vietnamese.
Hence the new color
After some test prints, I decided to change again since the color looks too raw and intense, which hurt my eyes. Also, I realized that for the brand identity, I didn’t want the color to carry anything associated with political emblems and symbols like flags since it would be too politicized right from the start. Color is like the firstmost impression of a brand identity, so I think it should set up a mood or an abstract concept for the whole project rather than impose a definite idea immediately. Other political references could be sowed subtly here and there throughout the identity, especially in the touchpoints section.
Therefore, I decided to change the cyan to its sibling hue, turquoise and the yellow to a more muted shade. After that I changed the turquoise to a muted tone also, to match the yellow feeling. These colors were reminiscent of old photographs of Saigon, evoking a sense of nostalgia and history.
Back to the logo, there was an issue with it. Similar to the parallelogram canvas layout, it looked awkward and out of place when applied to a rectangular canvas. Since I couldn’t make people use a parallelogram-shaped Iphone, the logo had to be changed again, also to align with the newly invented 4-line-anchor structure above.
There was a not-really-urgent problem with the font, the Bourrasque family, as it didn't support Vietnamese language, and I had to manually add diacritics on Illustrator when designing the logo. To use the font in the future, I had to modify, also known as ‘Vietnamize’, it in Glyphs to support the Vietnamese language. This involved rearranging and combining existing diacritics, and designing new ones like the hook (e.g. ‘ả’) and horn (of ‘ư’ and ‘ơ’). Although I had some experience with the Glyphs App, typeface design was never my thing. I faced various difficulties, such as figuring out proper kerning for characters like ‘ư’ and ‘ơ,’ and maintaining proper leading for stacked diacritics in uppercase letters. Additionally, there were technical issues with font features and plugins. After completing the 2 sets, I named them ‘Bánh mì’ since its slanted and narrow silhouette reminded me of the French baguette and its original name ‘Bourrasque’ is in French also. Bánh mì - a bootleg-Vietnamized-Bourrasque-Font.
For the secondary typeface, I selected the Acumin Pro Condensed, to be used for the body text.
2. Touchpoints:
Based on my research on the preparation for National Day events, I found out that the majority of the items used were limited to OOH posters, banners, and flags. In addition, branded merchandise such as T-shirts, hats, tote bags, water bottles, and lunch box sets were also available, primarily sold as souvenirs.
The 2020 NDP pack collection in Singapore was designed to cater to the needs of families during the pandemic. It came in the form of a tote bag and included essential items such as hand sanitizers, thermometers, and face masks, in addition to the usual souvenirs. This thoughtful gesture showed that the organizers had taken into consideration the current situation and had tried to provide items that would be useful and relevant to people. It was a nice touch and was likely appreciated by Singaporeans.
In Vietnam, on Nation days, posters and banners are hung out on the streets like this:
Flags will be outside also. The city is covered in a celebratory red! Most of the posters consist of pictures of Uncle Ho, a long tagline, celebrating the success of the Party and him, all in red and yellow.
There are some physical exhibitions:
Below is a list of touchpoints that I have brainstormed so far for the project. These touchpoints cover both physical and digital aspects:
Physical:
● Flags and banners that can be hung up around the event area or on the streets leading up to it.
● Street signs that help guide people to the event location.
● Event banners that are hung up at the gate or entrance
● Posters that can be displayed on walls or bus stops
● Photo journal book
● Gift pack that contains relevant items or souvenirs for attendees
Digital:
● Stickers that can be shared on social media
● Short videos
● Website archive
a) A street sign
Besides the usual touchpoints, I find the adaptation of street signs to be particularly interesting. One of the subtle nuances of the Reunification event is the change in street names that occurred during the transition period between the two governments. This signifies a significant shift in the country's history and the people’s awareness about the system. Some names remained (upper row) while others were replaced with new ones (lower row). I wanted to show that difference while incorporating the brand identity to street signage.
Overall, there wasn't much difference in the street sign design between the two periods. The signs remained dark blue with white text in all-caps, using a condensed, slim font for the street name and a typical sans-serif font for the prefix ‘đường’ (street). The design is embellished with a white outline. The only obvious difference is that the old Vietnamese hyphenation rule for compound nouns is applied in the former sign.
I also called my dad [6] to consult for more accuracy. It was weird it didn’t come to his mind that there were hyphens in the street name. However, he did point out that the prefix came in many forms not just ‘đường’ (street), like ‘đại-lộ’ (boulevard) in ‘ĐẠI-LỘ NGUYỄN-HUỆ’ or ‘công-trường’ (square) in ‘CÔNG-TRƯỜNG TỔNG-THỐNG JOHN F.KENNEDY’ as below.
For which street I’m gonna choose, I picked ‘Đồng Khởi’ street, formerly known as ‘Tự Do’ street.
Here are some initial designs that I've come up with. To maintain the original look and feel, I decided to keep the blue color but made it more vibrant. Additionally, I incorporated the Acumin Pro font into the design. To signify the brand identity, the four slanted strokes were added in place of the white outline. However, I wasn’t really sure about the yellow color:
After a few more iterations and a consultation with another lecturer [8], I decided to keep the street sign as original as possible with a small touch from the identity on the 4 slanted stripes. At this time, the lecturer asked me what the real function of this touchpoint was because IRL, the government wouldn’t make a custom street sign just for an event… though it’s an interesting medium. I started to think that the objective of the sign should shift to being a display piece. With that in mind, I had an idea of printing on one side the current name of the street and the former name on the other side to highlight the subtle nuance I mentioned earlier. The QR code will lead viewers to a microsite about the history of the road as well as my project information.
At first, I was really worried about the production of this street sign since I knew that printing on metal plates would be so expensive, especially in Singapore. I reached out to my friend [9] who is currently working as an architecture/interior designer in Vietnam. He told me that this can be done easily in Vietnam, at a much cheaper cost. However, he also suggested I could do this on my own if I want to have more ownership on my FYP, using spray paints and stencils. For metal plates, I could buy them at some mechanical tool store/market. I was quite excited with the idea of doing these things on my own; however, since the deadline was approaching, like only in 1 month and I still had other things to do like writing this CPJ, other touchpoints to finish, I decided to outsource a service, specialized in manufacturing advertising signage in Vietnam, to do this for me. Sorry my friend… For the shipping part, I had contacted my another friend [10], who usually shipped things from Vietnam to Singapore. Below is the result, looking quite polished.
After finishing the street sign, I realized it was much larger than I had expected. The size was based on the guidelines for Vietnamese street signage that I had found on some websites. Nevermind! Accuracy must be top priority.
b) A scarf
Another touchpoint I had in mind is the yellow scarf. Simply speaking, it was a reference to the iconic red scarf or ‘khăn quàng đỏ’. The red scarf is a neckerchief, the symbol and uniform of the members of Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organization. It holds a special place in the memories of most Vietnamese people from their primary school days. Back in the day, wearing the red scarf was mandatory as part of the school uniform, along with a white shirt and dark blue pants. Visually, there were 2 things to differentiate between a well-behaved student versus a naughty one:
- not wearing the red scarf
- having one's shirt untucked outside of the pants
Not abiding by any of those rules and I won’t be allowed to get into the classroom. Since the red scarf carried a political significance, it was not only a symbol of being a good or bad student but also implied being a good or bad child of Uncle Ho (‘Cháu ngoan Bác Hồ’/good child of Uncle Ho, a phrase expressing loyalty and admiration for the Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh). Hence, I felt like there was a particular identity-shifting quality between putting the scarf on and taking it off. It represented social conformity and righteousness, and was treated as a valuable item of any student.
I wanted to appropriate this medium as one of the touchpoints, functioning as a souvenir piece
For the production, as I researched, the original red scarf was made from silk, or silk-like thin translucent fabric. I had also come across some services in Singapore doing fabric printing online. However, I felt like the cost would be expensive, so I reached out to a friend in a fashion program [11] who suggested that she usually did her work in Vietnam and had it shipped to Singapore. However, she informed me that the manufacturer she knew in Vietnam might not be willing to take on such a small quantity. I consulted another friend [12] who graduated in fashion, and she suggested that I try fabric screenprinting myself in the fashion lab on level 5, which is equipped with the necessary tools and paints. She recommended that I find a current fashion student who could guide me into the room. However, my other friend [11] mentioned that she had not yet studied fabric screenprinting.
I also asked my mom [13] if she knew of any alternatives, and she shared the same concern as my friend. However, my mom suggested that she could try hand sewing or using her home sewing machine for machine embroidery. I decided to give it a try and asked her to sew as precisely as possible to match the design.
She walked me through the fabric selection process. Originally, I wanted the scarf to be in the light yellow color. Afterwards, I decided to include the light-turquoise variation, so there would be 2 scarfs.
Below is the one my mom already did with the embroidery machine.
For the turquoise one, I asked my mom to let me do it myself.
c) A website
It hadn’t been finished by the time this journal was printed out.
d) Posters
The posters would be designed to adapt according to multiple illustration styles as seen in the following posters.
- ‘WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT’ anti-war poster by John Lennon & Yoko Ono
- 1964 Propaganda Poster: Long An Public Health Service (12-11-1964)
- South Vietnam Poster 1964 - The Army is Your Future (25-6-1964)
This style of illustration seems very interesting
e) Brand Style Guide/Booklet
It hadn’t been finished by the time this journal was printed out.
V. Talk with People (continue)
2. Chat with maternal grandparents [14,15]
During my project week, I flew back to Vietnam and visited my maternal grandparents in Bảo Lộc, a mountainous city in the Central Highlands region. I asked if we could chat about their experiences to supplement my FYP research, and they were happy to help. Even though I had conducted research on this 'marginalized' history from multiple resources, listening to my grandparents tell their real-life experiences was an emotionally stirring moment for me. It was like reading a 'phản động' article, but with a profound and authentic narration by someone who had actually experienced it firsthand. Their stories brought the past to life, and I was grateful for the opportunity to connect with my family’s history on a deeper level.
My grandad was a 'Bắc 54' (Northern 54), meaning that he followed his family to migrate from North to South Vietnam in 1954, leaving behind their ancestral village and everything they knew. The reason why they migrated was mostly the fear of oppression for being a Catholic under the Northern regime. He grew up in the Central Highlands region, eventually enlisting as an officer and serving in the communication department of the Military Forces of South Vietnam. His duties included managing communication between military units through tasks such as signal decoding and telegraph operation. His job, along with my grandma's work on the farm, helped the family maintain a stable financial situation during the time. I asked him if there were any downsides of living under the old regime, since I had heard a lot of glamor about it. He begrudgingly acknowledged that, just like any other countries, there were poor people, corruption and bribery at the administration level, political opposition, or more broadly, the overdependence on foreign aids. However, he added that, on the whole, "the life standard was really good and there was freedom of speech, a legit nation" with a bittersweet nostalgia that only served to highlight the hardship that would soon follow.
The Reunification Day eventually came, a day that brought not only happiness to many people but also immense upheaval for countless others. They were sent to re-education camps, and even attempted to escape Vietnam on a boat. In the reeducation camp, being a former military officer, my grandad was forced to ‘admit guilt’ and had to list out what ‘crimes’ he did to the people. Then, this process was repeated several times to cross-check all the information given during each interrogation. Fortunately, he only worked in the rear area, not directly fighting in the forefront, so he was released after 2 and a half years. Those working in higher ranks or taking a long time in the ‘admission’ process, would be sent to remote and isolated camps where living conditions were worse, and diseases were rampant. They were also detained for a much longer duration like 5 or even 10 years. Consequently, many perished in those camps and if any survivor could return after such a long period of time, they would likely seek immediate political refuge.
Like many Southerners at the time, my grandad did consider to ‘vượt biên’ meaning to flee from Vietnam, usually on boat illegally. Accompanied by my uncles, who were only 14, 15 years old, my grandad attempted to escape a few times, but all his efforts were in vain as he ended up being arrested each time. These attempts were also financially expensive, with each ticket costing up to 1 tael of gold (1 cây vàng). My grandparents had to borrow money from everywhere just to fund these risky trips. When I asked him if he had ever thought about the possibility of death, he replied that in that situation, anyone would have done the same as him, just to seek for an escape.
The post-war period was characterized by famine, poverty, and struggle, and it was families like mine that bore the brunt of the fallout. Nevertheless, my grandad acknowledged that our family was not the worst off, as there were others, particularly Southern intellectuals with no experience in manual labor, who were sent to the New Economic Zones to work grueling jobs on farms. Many died in the process, and those who survived returned home only to find that all their properties were confiscated by the government, practically stealing from them. Since many Southerners worked for the South Vietnam government due to the state of war, few were exempt from these events. As a result, criminalizing the regime would effectively mean criminalizing a significant portion of the population living under it. Despite it all, my grandfather never doubted the attempt to reunify the country, recognizing it as a commendable goal that should not be overlooked. It was the years that followed that proved to be a nightmare for families like mine. Many of the stories my grandad shared were similar to those I had read on the Internet.
Sometimes, my grandma jumped in between with some witty commentary. She made an ironic observation about the impact of Northern Communist propaganda in the land of South Vietnam during the war. She said that the O.G. Southerners were more vulnerable to the propaganda, thus, converted to the other side, while the ‘Northern 54’ like my family who had experienced life under a Communist government were not swayed at all. I’m pretty sure it was just her personal point of view, but it certainly shedded a new perspective for me that I had never read about elsewhere. My grandma also shared with me the ways she coped with the difficult living conditions during the time my grandfather was sent to a reeducation camp. She had to resort to selling the tin roof in exchange for sweet potatoes, growing her own crops to sustain the family, saving every single grain of rice due to severe food shortages. After years of hardship and struggle, they finally saw a glimmer of hope as the government introduced the reform policy, commonly known as "Đổi Mới".
A while ago, my grandparents made a decision to relocate to the United States for a more permanent settlement. However, due to the pandemic, they had to fly back to Vietnam. They shared with me that even today, the elders there still uphold an extremely negative view of the government in Vietnam, like using the yellow flag, the old emblems in an official way, or going on parades. This hatred has been passed down to the second, even third generation there. After the sharing about the past, I was curious to know how he envisioned a reconciliation event between the two sides. He was quite certain that before the event took place, the government had to change their perspective first, respecting the ideals and beliefs of the losing side, which would possibly lead to reconciliation. I could still sense some lingering resentment and sadness of my grandad when talking about the past, luckily thanks to grandma, there were also some pretty lighthearted and humorous moments throughout the conversation.
Listening back to the recording still brings up a flood of emotions within me.
3. Visit the ARVN* cemetery
During the last day of my project week in Vietnam in March 2023, I paid a visit to Bình An Cemetery. It was formerly known as the ARVN National Military Cemetery of Bien Hoa. As from my research, the place was where approximately 16,000 ARVN soldiers are buried, a sacred site to most Southerners. After the Reunification Day, It was once an off-limits military zone for several decades as an attempt to censor anything related to the old regime. However, as part of the reconciliation process, now families of fallen South Vietnamese soldiers are allowed to pay visits to the cemetery while the restoration process of degraded grave tombs was also undertaken. When I approached the cemetery gate, the security guard required me to show him my ID card and write down my personal particulars in a notebook, otherwise, my entry would be denied. I guess people there still kept a watchful lookout on those venturing into this place, especially a young person like me.
*ARVN: the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, South Vietnamese government
Inside, certain graves were merely heaps of elevated earth surrounded by fallen leaves and branches, while others have had their names eroded by the harsh effects of the sun and rain, overgrown with weeds. Some had even lost their images, leaving only a number scrawled in their place. Some tombstones had signs of being broken or even taken away, leaving no knowledge of who was buried down there. Despite this, there was a small comfort in the fact that almost every grave had an incense holder, a sign of respect and remembrance. Among the neglected graves, few had been recently renovated, probably by their families, making the nearby abandoned ones seem even more sorrowful. The relatives of most people buried here probably left the country a long time ago, perhaps without knowing the day of return. As a result, these graves could have fallen into forgottenness and left to deteriorate over time.
I stopped at one grave and read the inscription: ‘H.D 23 tuổi’ meaning the person buried there was only 23 years old at the time of his death. A young soldier, relatively the same age as me right now. War was so devastating that it didn't spare anyone, regardless of their age, gender, or status. Other than me, there were few others, most likely visitors. I watched one of them burn a large number of incense sticks and place them in the holders of each grave, bringing a bit of warmth to the already deserted cemetery. I had no incense with me, so I simply bowed my head to the graves. They had died for their ideals. Eventually, in Vietnamese culture, there is a saying "nghĩa tử là nghĩa tận". It means no matter how angry or upset we are towards someone, when they pass away, we should not hold onto past grudges.
Going around, there were cemetery caretakers tending the trees and bushes likely on a regular basis, especially near the central war memorial 'Nghĩa Dũng Đài' (Brave and Righteous), surrounded by the 'Vành Khăn Tang' (Mourning band). The monument felt quite peaceful to be honest.
'Đền Tử Sĩ' (Temple of the Martyrs) at the cemetery, Feb 1969 - photo by Brian Wickham. The inscriptions on the two pillars of the 'Tam Quan' gate are carved in left-to-right order. The first reads 'VÌ NƯỚC HY SINH' (sacrifice for the country) and the second reads 'VÌ DÂN CHIẾN ĐẤU' (fight for the people). The temple is situated just in front of the Bình An cemetery.
'Đền Tử Sĩ' (Temple of the Martyrs) now, March 2023 - photo by me. Most of the intricately engraved details on the 'Tam Quan' gate have washed off or got broken away. Once the most sacred site where ritual ceremonies were held to honor soldiers who died for their ideals, this temple is now abandoned and receives little care. Ironically, within a short drive away, we can see a more grandiose cemetery filled with the scent of burnt incense as well as memorial flower, the Ho Chi Minh City Martyrs Cemetery, located right beside the National Route 1A. It is the final resting place of soldiers who sacrificed themselves for the more recognized side of Vietnam history. I wonder if it was intentional to build it only 2km away from the other cemetery.
4. Chat with paternal uncle [16]
I initially planned to also visit my paternal uncle during the project week. However, because my timeline was cramped with all the friend meetups, I was unable to do so. Nevermind, I actually reached out to my dad to ask for his contact so I could arrange a call with him. My uncle is the big brother of my dad’s family. Unlike my dad, he was probably a young adult on the day of Reunification. He was also a musician, who had connections with the community of artists and intellectuals in South Vietnam, so maybe his perspective would be different. He began with some stories of the past, in which my paternal grandparents were also migrants to the South but earlier than my maternal ones. Settling down in Saigon, my grandad worked in the ministry of home affairs of the South Vietnam government and his salary alone could support the entire family of nine. However, perhaps due to the escalating war and economic decline, after 1970, he was struggling to make ends meet. To help share the burden, my grandma began offering knitting services and running a small clothing stall at An Đông market. However, the situation was still manageable until the Reunification Day. When the day came, contrary to most others, my uncle’s reaction to the advancement of the Northern government was one of acceptance. He said, unlike my dad (who was forced to quit school after that day) or my grandad (obviously), he did not bear any grudge against, nor did he like the Communist regime. While others ran away, or fought back; he simply accepted it peacefully, thinking that he would stay back and contribute to reconstruction of the country. Over time, he maintained his neutral stance, but grew somewhat negative towards the government after witnessing many things after that fateful day, some of which were personal.
After the Vietnam War, Vietnam found itself in other conflicts with neighboring countries such as China and Laos. During the war with Cambodia, my dad was enlisted to the army as a prerequisite for continuing his college studies the following year. When my uncle and grandma paid him a visit, the commander there whispered something to the others in a skeptical tone, remarking, "Keep an eye on her. How did she know this place?" even though just a minute before, he had been very welcoming and friendly. I guess this was just more of a personal experience rather than something necessarily associated with the government.
Speaking of the army, my uncle also mentioned how many people had to adopt new identities just to escape the draft. Besides enlistment, the reason for identity swapping can vary from affording higher education, admitting a job, to avoiding discrimination, reframing an entire life. This practice stemmed from ‘Chủ nghĩa lý lịch’, the policy of scrutinizing individuals' personal histories and backgrounds, particularly those from the South, to identify potential political enemies or threats to the Communist government. This policy was used to discriminate against and persecute individuals who were deemed ‘Lý lịch xấu’ or bad profile, meaning having affiliations with the former South Vietnamese government or the United States. Changing names became a means of escaping that policy. It surprised me to learn that some of my relatives, whom I only knew by their current names, had previously gone by entirely different identities. During our conversation, I made a mistake by asking my uncle about his birth year (since I wanted to ask about some of the historic events). He told me that questions about birth year were particularly sensitive for Southern Vietnamese like him, as they were also tied to the ‘Chủ nghĩa lý lịch’. Not only names, some had to change their origins, like their birth, household info (hộ khẩu)... I apologized to him later and made sure that I wouldn’t ask such questions. Even though the policy practically ended after the reform policy/'Đổi Mới', the mentality of background checks still persists today, particularly among the youth. A recent example is the case of Hanni, in which people tried to nitpick her family history.
5. Chat with friend [17]
Earlier, the people I had talked with were elders who have been through all those ups and downs of the war. This time, I had a chance to talk with a younger friend of mine, who shared a similar background to me. However, unlike my family which had a more uniform political affiliation, his family was more diversified, with members coming from both sides. After the war ended, it took quite a long time, but eventually, they managed to put all the ideological differences aside and reconcile, making his family whole again. ‘Sometimes they even joked about the old things’ he mentioned.
As I listened to his story, I couldn't help but draw parallels to my own family. My father told me that during the Vietnam War, not all members of our family were on the same side. In fact, my grand aunt, living in Huế, had been a supporter of the Northern Communists long before the Reunification Day. Despite this, my father held no grudges against her. I would assume that perhaps reconciliation at a smaller scale was more successful thanks to the strength of family bonds or friendships. While the spirit of unity and nationalism are commonly cited as driving forces for reconciliation, these ideals didn’t hold as much weight as the deep blood-and-flesh relationships.
Another key takeaway from the conversation was the process of defining his political stance, which could be divided into 3 phases:
- Phase 1: Blindly following the elders. Like me, he was also brought up with family memories, resulting in him adopting the same perspective and frequently criticizing the authorities.
- Phase 2: Confusion. This was probably when he didn’t know which one was telling the truth as he got to know more about various perspectives.
- Phase 3: Ignorance. He just had it enough with all of the never-ending fights and decided to disregard any political or ideological discussions.
With the same concern as mine, he wondered why many young people on the internet held extreme political views, whereas most of the young people he knew in real life either lacked interest in the topic or maintained neutrality. ‘Perhaps this is because they were excessively exposed to one side, especially those from rural areas,’ He speculated.
6. Chat with friend [18]
I had a chat with another friend of mine, whose stories shed a new perspective for me, one that I probably never heard anywhere before. His ancestors were not migrants but rather originally from the South, or the ‘Cochinchina’ (commonly referred during the French colonization), more specifically, the Western region, with his grandad working for the French colonizers and later the South Vietnam government. Besides cursing Northern Communists, he was also fed with his family's negative attitude towards the "Northern 54,” (like my family) or more accurately, their hatred for them. In other words, they disliked all Northerners equally no matter if they were ‘54’ or ‘75’, often referred to pejoratively as “Tonkin” or “Bắc Kỳ”. People like his family believed that when the Northerners moved to the South in 1954, they were granted more privileges than those who actually lived there for generations, particularly in the political and religious scene.
"Maybe it was the discrimination that resulted in the Buddhists protesting or some Southerners, dissatisfied with the regime, changing sides," he mentioned. It's worth noting that most of the Northern migrants at that time were Catholics, while the original religious landscape of the South was much more diverse, with Buddhism, Caodaism, Hoahaoism, and other folk religions. This religious divide might have contributed to the perception of Northerners being privileged, as the Catholic Church was seen as a more dominant force, having close ties to the South Vietnamese government. Moreover, after the war, the "Northern 54" also frequently blamed the original Southerners for disloyalty to the country or laziness, claiming that their lack of contribution to the war partially led to the failure of South Vietnam. The discrimination between North and South actually had its roots much earlier, and it wasn't just a byproduct of the Vietnam War. The Reunification Day simply heightened the tension since it was practically a different type of Northerners taking over the South. If the statement that the Vietnam War was actually a civil war wasn’t enough, there were even those who believed that it was a civil war for the North, with the South merely being pulled into the conflict.
I suddenly recalled my grandma's earlier ironic observation about the original Southerners, and it dawned on me that perhaps there was indeed such prejudice against them. I also realized that my ancestors belonged to a more elite group during the old regime, which could have contributed to their bias for it and fueled their resentment towards the new government. My friend told me that it was an endless cycle of inherited hatred, as from what he knew, the land of the O.G Southerners might have been taken away from some other marginalized groups in the past. It made me wonder if they were also viewed as the "evil guys" in some other histories.
Reflecting on the complex nature of discrimination between North and South Vietnam, I came to the realization that it was far more complex than just a simple binary of black and white, or even the various shades of gray in between as what people usually said. The problem had evolved to include a vast spectrum of colors, each with their own unique hues, shades, and tints. While my family and others like us may have been victims of discrimination and mistreatment, we were not entirely blameless (not just simply in textbooks). It was important to acknowledge the multifaceted nature of the issue and work towards finding a resolution that could bring understanding and unity to all sides.
7. Chat with friend [19]
This time I had a chat with a dear friend from a fashion brand in Vietnam ***** (I did mention an image on their Instagram somewhere earlier in this document), ‘a small Vietnamese-owned business dedicated to promoting Vietnamese art, culture, and individuals’ as written in their description. I got to talk to him thanks to our mutual friend [20] who used to work with me a while back. They are probably the only brand talking about Vietnamese culture with a reference to the other side, which is actually exposed to people living in Vietnam, so it was quite an interesting opportunity for me to learn about them also. Surprisingly, despite growing in *****, U.S., the brand was founded by people like me, descendants of the Southerners in Vietnam and later went to the U.S. to study, along with other American-born Vietnamese there.
About the controversial installation ‘Side By Side’. As I said earlier, it was such a simple but bold, naked depiction of the word ‘Reconciliation’ by using the iconic emblems. It obviously offended some people as we can see in the comment section; yet still feeling real, honest and reminiscent. He told me that there was a really interesting story about this piece, on how the Vietnamese in the U.S. received it. The installation was initially made to promote a panel talk in a newly opened outlet of the brand, at the heart of Little Saigon, Seattle, a location well-known for the vibrant Viet Kieu community. One thing to notice is that the place is also widely known for the ubiquity of the Yellow Flag as well as the generationally circulated hatred for the Vietnamese government, as if anyone tries to wave the Red Flag in this area, they will get beaten up for real. That being said, when the installation was erected with that not-every-day appearance of the Red Symbol, it was met with condemning reactions from locals. Some went to great lengths to cancel the exhibition. Combined with the scolding reactions to the Yellow Flag on the Internet, he said that it was sad but interesting the attempt was canceled on both sides, on both the Internet and real life.
Take Trịnh Công Sơn, a really popular musician in Vietnam, who tried to navigate between both sides during the Vietnam War and was scolded by both sides for his stance. He was scolded by the red side for some of his anti-war songs, revealing the ugly truth of the Vietnam War. On the other hand, the yellow side condemned him for ‘compromising’ or ‘disloyalty’, especially when he went to the Saigon radio station, singing ‘Nối Vòng Tay Lớn’ to encourage people not to flee from the advancing Northern Communists on that fateful day. My friend said that Trịnh Công Sơn ideals were what the brand is trying to align most.
About some Instagram comments on the installation indicating ‘stop living in the past’ or ‘cringe’, He and I both agreed maybe the topic of Vietnam War was intentionally made to be ‘cringe’ so that no one, especially the youth, would want to discuss seriously, sticking to what was already taught at school. Speaking of ‘cringe’, he said that other brands/projects in Vietnam, when referencing something from history, often did it in a humorous manner to subvert that ‘cringiness’’. Meanwhile, his brand strived to deliver that same content in an honest and compassionate tone of voice, which made it sometimes ‘cringe’ I assumed. However, I think he had a point right there as history was something that everyone had yet to unanimously agree on, let alone a thing to be sugar coated as ‘cool’.
Since he had lived in America for a long time, I asked him about the general perspective of the Viet Kieu diaspora there. towards the current Vietnamese government, which appeared to vary based on generation. There wasn’t a really clear boundary among these categories but rather a general overview:
- The first category is an echo chamber with extreme resentment towards the red side always up in the air, which is kinda stereotypical in the mainstream media about the Viet diaspora.
- The second category inherits resentment from their surroundings, but it gradually becomes more disintegrated.
- The third category starts to re-question the yellow side values. What is more interesting is that some of them start to align with socialism, rejecting the capitalist foundation of America.
His insights were incredibly valuable to me as I realized that this tendency was mirrored in Vietnam, albeit in the opposite direction. I couldn't help but wonder if the younger generations in Vietnam and those descended from the Vietnamese diaspora would intersect at some point in the future; and that would be when a reconciliation could finally be realized.
8. Review Giải khăn sô cho Huế (Mourning Headband for Hue) by Nhã Ca
I was recommended this book by my friend [2] as research material. Olga Dror, who was responsible for the English translation of the book, provides a summary that captures its essence:
Vietnam, January, 1968. As the citizens of Hue are preparing to celebrate Tet, the start of the Lunar New Year, Nha Ca arrives in the city to attend her father's funeral. Without warning, war erupts all around them, drastically changing or cutting short their lives. After a month of fighting, their beautiful city lies in ruins and thousands of people are dead. Mourning Headband for Hue tells the story of what happened during the fierce North Vietnamese offensive and is an unvarnished and riveting account of war as experienced by ordinary people caught up in the violence.
I rarely read any piece of war literature before so it was also my first time to know about it from somewhere else rather than a history book or research paper, especially for the Tet Offensive event in 1968. After 2 months, fortunately I was able to finish it some days before the submission deadline. This account followed the author, witnessing the war from the eyes of a regular civilian; and it was horrendous, even just by reading the story in plain text. My friend [2] was from Đà Nẵng; but her grandma originated from Huế. Thus, even though I wasn’t from Huế, it felt really close to me, her family, as a Vietnamese in general. It was not the war from some far faraway land, but rather from someone’s family I might know in person. All the time, I heard that war was something terrible from my dad, my grandparents; but could not really imagine that as much as when reading this book, from fleeing in chaos to taking cover under a make-do shelter with sandbags. It felt as if the war was unrelentingly narrated in real time without any kind of cut scenes in between. This unflinching portrayal made the story feel repetitive in some places, but it also underscored the reality of the pain and suffering endured by so many.
While the Liberation army committed numerous atrocities like wantonly executing any civilian suspected of having affiliations with the South without trials; the American soldiers weren’t any better with the jeering, derisive attitude towards the escaping civilians and also killing innocent people with misfired air strikes. It seemed that Nhã Ca’s stance wasn’t in favor of any side, not the Northern soldiers, the Americans nor the Southern ones; though her empathy for the Southern Vietnamese army was subjectively sowed here and there throughout the book. Their image was subtly depicted as those, though coming from different places, daring to die or ‘quyết tử’ in Huế. They were also more friendly to people than the other two forces. I don’t know if all the things written are true or not, but the reality of the war was undoubtedly ugly especially from the eyes of those caught in the crossfire. Nhã Ca's account provided a harrowing glimpse into the suffering and devastation experienced by the people of Huế, and it was impossible not to feel a sense of empathy and sorrow for them. Having visited Huế only twice before, I plan to return this summer, and I am curious to see how I will experience the city differently after reading the book. Maybe, when I passed by some familiar locations and street names mentioned in the book, it would feel more personal, reconstructing the whole war scene from my imagination.
I think that’s why this book was banned by the government from the general audience in Vietnam (and its author - Nhã Ca - was put into jail) due to the sensitive portrayal of the war, and how it depicted the cruelties committed by all sides. It is understandable why some may find it uncomfortable or even consider it unpatriotic, but concealing such truths from the public knowledge is not justifiable, especially in the age of the Internet where information is easily accessible.
9. Chat with friend [9]
This time, I decided to reach out to my friend [9], who was born and raised in Vietnam but has an Australian nationality as his mother was a boat person who migrated to Australia. As a result, he has the privilege of experiencing the best of both worlds, going back and forth between the two countries. For the moment, he is living in Vietnam, working as an architect/interior designer. I was able to talk to him thanks to our mutual friend [21], who used to work with me in the past (along with friend [20]). However, the interview may not be updated by the time this journal is printed. For an updated version, readers can check the website or Google doc version of this journal later.
New updates:
After a while, I finally had the chance to set up a call with him and this should be the last personal interview for this project. The chat went quite casual as we already kinda knew each other in advance but certainly brought a new perspective to me. We started with his background. Similar to mine, his grandad was also an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, specifically teaching philosophies (?) at Dalat military academy of South Vietnam. However, when the Reunification Day came, his reaction was similar to my uncle, opting to stay and help the new government to reconstruct the entire country from the ashes and debris of war. He described it as "Yêu quê hương nhưng không yêu nước" (Love the homeland but not the country), as he explained. Although they might go back and forth, leaving Vietnam for other countries would never be their preference.
Going deeper into his family tree, as his ancestors were all coming from the Central Vietnam (miền Trung), Quảng Nam and Huế during the early days of the war, some of them chose to go up North; while others, including his family, advanced South - Đà Lạt and Sài Gòn. Therefore, his ancestry had been scattered all over the S-shaped country since those days. I asked if his family had ever tried to reach out to their long-gone relatives living in the North after the country reunified, and reconciled like others. Sadly, he said that though his grandma did try to go to the North to re-establishing the family tree, there seemed to be no actual need for such reconciliation… The reason was actually quite simple - distance. He explained that it didn’t even have to do with ideologies to divide a family, just distance in time and space could already do. 20 years of living in 2 different ends of the country could already separate their bloodlines. The outcome of that was 2 totally distinct lifestyles, ways of thinking, behaviors, customs and traditions; and any attempt to reconcile that would feel coerced. There were more factors than just hating one side or another, and if things were not meant to be, it would be best to leave them that way. My friend's story brought to mind a distant relative of my family, my grandaunt Trai, who made a similar choice to align with the Northern government. My dad has mentioned her before, but she lived all the way in Huế, so our family lost contact with her over time. My friend continued that ‘distance’ narrative with the stories of the Vietnamese diaspora. As the Viet people around the world had formed their own Viet identity for almost 50 years, distinct from that of the Vietnamese living in Vietnam like me, with different beliefs, ideals, symbols, history and pride … There wouldn’t be a need to unify a single Vietnamese identity in the name of reconciliation as what we commonly hear. ‘American and Singaporean both spoke a similar language, but their culture, their identity aren’t alike at all‘ he said. There could be various groups of people speaking Vietnamese as their mother tongue in the world without the need to match their identity with the Vietnamese people. The significant difference might be that the Vietnamese diaspora didn’t get to form their own government, thus felt less legitimate than their counterparts in Vietnam. He also mentioned that some people from the Vietnamese diaspora could technically relocate for a permanent resettlement in Vietnam. However, they never chose to do so mostly because they already got used to the life they already had overseas, not necessarily because of ideological differences. I thought it was interesting to think this way but it also made me re-question the whole point of my project for a moment…
When we talked about the Vietnamese diaspora in Australia, he emphasized that the people there, especially the elders, were still holding on to the past with extreme negativity. He referred to them as ‘nostalgic communities sharing the same historical subjects as hobbies’. The negativity even penetrated into the community level, as seen in the incident where the Vietnamese diaspora in Queensland, Australia had banned all performers from Vietnam from playing in local lounges. He added that their knowledge about the current Vietnam was quite little and biased. For example, a while ago, when he came to visit his relatives in Australia, his aunt showed him the microwave and asked him if there was such a thing in Vietnam.
During the conversation, I asked him something about whether he chose to take sides or break away from those family stories passed down to him. He was quite certain that there was actually no ‘definite’ side to take. Actually, up until that moment, he had been talking about something very academic and scholarly that my brain had melted somewhere during the chat. He said something about post-ideological era, that there was no concrete ideal or solid ‘sides’ to follow on, as well as no clear ideological divisions to be against and that even some so-called ideologies today weren't the same thing as when they were first introduced, they were fixed, deconstructed, reassembled from parts, then remixed,... leading to a constantly evolving landscape. Even though I didn’t quite catch up with all the terms, it was quite ok ok to get the gist of the general idea. Interestingly, his sharing was relevant to a piece of writing I recently read, which argued how Vietnam had adapted to the current flow of globalization, of capitalism, despite being often framed as a socialist or communist country. This adaptation had somewhat altered the essence of the Vietnamese government, and my friend put forth a quote from Slavoj Žižek, "Today, ex-communists that are still in power are the best managers of capitalism," which he believed might apply to Vietnam and China. In the end, communism, socialism, capitalism or whatever -ism are just terms with expiry date and without a fixed definition. With this in mind, he was optimistic that our country, Vietnam, was slowly changing for the better and the Vietnamese government now wasn’t exactly the same Communist Northern government liberating the South in 1975. Especially, for example, he was quite surprised that our Ministry of Health issued a document affirming that "homosexuality is not a disease and does not need to be treated”, which he acknowledged was a bold move from the government. Nonetheless, he still admitted that the positive changes still had not extended to those lingering controversial issues surrounding the Vietnam War or more specifically, the memory cleansing of the former South Vietnam as well as the reconciliation (if that’s necessary). He agreed that it was bad but understandable why the government couldn’t just simply fix the master narrative they had defended for 5 decades.
Lastly, I asked him if a more whole-hearted reconciliation could be feasible in the near future. Unfortunately, he replied that he didn't have much faith in the idea of "whole-heartedness" as reconciliations had to deal with the ideologies of the elders, which were themselves radical and brutal. He also added that reconciliation often comes with benefits or that benefits may even need to come first, with reconciliation following later. For example, he mentioned how VinFast, a Vietnamese-founded automotive company, manufactured cars, sold them in the U.S. and the people actually buying them were from the Vietnamese diaspora community. He assumed that reconciliation and harmony could actually come from such economic exchange, similarly to the normalization of relations between Vietnam and the United States. Despite that, I think we can still reserve our hope for one reconciliation that is actually coming from good will, though it may sound too idealistic.
10. An excerpt from Mặt Thật by Bùi Tín
After finishing Giải khăn sô cho Huế by Nhã Ca, while looking for a new book to binge on the bus, I stumbled on this very interesting figure - Bùi Tín. He was a member of the Communist Party for over four decades and served in the People's Army for 37 years, achieving the rank of Colonel. He held important positions assigned by the Party such as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the People's Army Newspaper and Nhân Dân Newspaper, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the Nhân Dân Chủ Nhật Newspaper. Despite his passionate red background, he later became a really well-known dissident in Vietnam, which led him to seek political asylum in France.
One of his books - Mặt Thật - is a political memoirs, consisting of memories, records, documents, and images, as affirmed by him, depict the truth and the genuine face of the socialist regime in Vietnam (The publisher's foreword describes the book as such.) Within the pages of the book, there is a chapter that discusses the topic of reconciliation in Vietnam, which resonated with my own beliefs even though it was already published 30 years ago. I would like to share an excerpt of that chapter below (translated by ChatGPT and edited a bit by me):
- Translated:
Reconciliation and harmony need to be implemented widely in the relationship between the state and citizens, where the prejudices between "us" and "them" or “ngụy”, "ngụy troops" and "ngụy authorities" in administrative and security agencies, as well as in party organizations, should be eliminated. Relationships between administrative, economic, cultural, educational, scientific agencies and citizens need to be improved, as well as relationships with the Vietnamese diaspora. During this process, the state and the Communist Party must play a proactive and sincere role. This is not about condescension, granting favors, "we forgive you so that you can reconcile and harmonize with us", but about harmony and reconciliation based on equality and mutual respect for personality and human dignity. Otherwise, it is still a kind of "unity" that means submission, ‘you following my order!’, and that reconciliation is them bowing and asking for forgiveness first before us reaching out to shake hands.
Therefore, reconciliation and harmony must originate from goodwill, brotherhood in a family, from the love of flesh and blood, from children sharing the same homeland, looking back at the past with an understanding, magnanimity, and mutual empathy, from which respect and affection are built on an equal spirit.
Even in the Vietnamese community abroad, with different pasts and histories, in different organizations and political views, sometimes hostile to each other, the issue of reconciliation and harmony must also be raised, respecting each other on the basis of democracy, pluralism, cooperation to build a strong community, and contribute to the construction of the homeland. In the Vietnamese community, there are also extreme views that believe there is no reconciliation or harmony with the Communists, only the issue of forcing them to withdraw and relinquish power (how to withdraw and relinquish power is not clear) because they are the ones who committed crimes and harmed the country.... This is a condescending and unrealistic view. There is still a need to create strong pressure inside and outside the country to force Communist Party leaders to accept true democratic elections according to the principles of pluralism. In the Vietnamese diaspora, there are not many people with extreme views, and this number is decreasing significantly. I have had the opportunity to meet thousands of people in many countries, with very different characteristics in their past, party activities, former professions, motivations to leave the country, and current activities… They are professors, intellectuals in the fields of natural and social sciences. They are entrepreneurs. They are former officers from the former South Vietnam, some of whom are generals, lieutenant generals, and major generals. They are representatives and senators in the former Saigon parliament. They are journalists, artists, doctors, and pharmacists. I am not afraid to meet, discuss, and dialogue with anyone.
For over two years, I met many people, took notes of everything and realized that each person is different, no two people are the same, but they all have a common trait: they are all good-hearted people with good intentions, more or less patriotic, and hoping for a prosperous homeland. Only a few are extremists, irrational, emotional, imprisoned by the past, and even they can be persuaded. I especially appreciate the young generation, from 20 to 30, 35 years old, including students and technical staff of various industries. They are not bound by the past, have a broad perspective, independence and autonomy. This young group of officials and intellectuals has a lot of scientific, technical, managerial, and business experience, and will certainly be useful for the country in the future when they can return to the country for a short time or work from abroad as required. These young officials and intellectuals have a natural and gentle heart for reconciliation and harmony, but deep and profound as well. There are even young people who say that reconciliation and harmony are the responsibilities of the elders, and that they do not want to inherit the tradition of division among them. Our young people in the country and abroad are already brothers and friends with each other. All the prejudices and divisive tactics from both sides: patriotic and reactionary, patriotic and traitorous, patriotic and "Việt Gian"; ‘Quốc Gia’ and ‘Cộng Sản’, the minions of the American empire, the minions of Soviet, China, the indifference of one and the other... must be eradicated thoroughly. It's time to get rid of the burden on our people's lives, and everyone should get down to the great work of developing the country, overcoming backwardness and poverty, and catching up with neighboring countries.
VI. Personal Reflection
Throughout the whole development of this project, I was constantly in a state of confusion. I had often suspected whether my project would bring any good or if there was anyone actually asking for it. However, deep down, I recognized that this topic was closely intertwined with my own identity, which had always been difficult for me to talk about. I knew that it was important to shed light on this topic, even if doing so might be seen as "cringe”. I held conversations with family and friends, and ultimately, these discussions reinforced my belief that this was a subject that deserved to be explored further. Thanks to them, I was able to learn more and more about this complex issue from diverse perspectives to the point that I eventually returned to the neutral state again. However, that neutrality now was certainly not where I was in the first place, reminding me of this meme below.
That process actually repeated itself several times, so it was quite an emotional rollercoaster of self-esteem, some uncertainty to some moments of overconfidence. Carrying out this final year project was particularly challenging for me as it took place just a few months after the end of my 2-year relationship. It was difficult to stay motivated and engaged, without having a supportive partner always available to share exciting new stuff with (it might be the first project during the past 2 years without the interference of my partner). However, in retrospect, this difficult time pushed me to become more independent and to delve deeper into my own thoughts and ideas, resulting in a project that was truly reflective of my own perspective and voice. I also had the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends along the way, for which I am truly grateful.
Even though honesty and inclusivity were how I approached such a topic, I still devoted much of my personal experience & feelings to this project. This was mainly because it is a tribute to my family, the closest people from my childhood, and their influence on me is significant. As a result, there were certainly some aspects that I didn't cover in their entirety, and the articulation of my thoughts may have been somewhat scattered. Nonetheless, I tried as much as possible to diversify and open up more smaller related topics that could be explored further. For instance, I explored the perspectives of the American-born Vietnamese youth and the experiences of people from various sides within South Vietnam itself.
From the start, the project was intentionally born out of my empathy for those people like my family even though they might not urgently need it since it was already the past. However, in the end, I think the project was actually helping myself more than my family, to make peace with those inner doubts, thoughts that have been bottled up in my mind for years and to confront my family legacy and the values that have shaped who I am today.
VII. References
Sending appreciation and love to my friends, my family, my lecturers and others who helped me!
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Thank you ChatGPT for grammar correction, translation and making my writing more readable.