Thinking about freedom in Vietnam

This is me with Dung, a former school teacher and ARVN veteran.
Tolerate of this entry for an explanation. 

This is Titi, another vet who took on some hard work after the war. He has since "retired" and now gives motorbike tours in Da Lat.

Throughout these past few months in southeast Asia, I've repeatedly found myself talking about how much more alive and free I feel here—even with Thai martial law, a confusing Burmese government, severely corrupt Cambodian police, and a pompously "communist" system in Vietnam. However, in any of these places, you can find food and friendly people virtually anywhere at any hour. If I want to open an all-night food stand in Toronto, well, I'll have better luck playing Lotto Max. 

You can (especially as a traveler) do almost anything you want with little consequence in much of Southeast Asia. If you want to sit on a curb in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City till 5am and drink cheap beer with locals, nobody will stop you (you might get mugged in an alley on the way back, but it's still probably less likely to happen than in places like Barcelona and Rome); if you get into a motorbike accident (and live) or break a minor law, a few dollars will likely cover the other party. Fewer lawyers, less paperwork, and less nonsense. If anything, you might help someone send their kids to school in the process. In Canada, we pay extra if we want our passports processed more quickly ("express service"); perhaps this is no less corrupt than paying someone for special treatment / express service in the eastern hemisphere. 

For some reason, I keep viewing Canada as a more restrictive place than those I've recently visited. I can't help but see it as a country controlled by lawyers, bankers, bureaucrats, and capitalists, just to name a few. I also have a place in this mix, and I feel I have no choice. Of course, these influential entities are perfectly suited to a democracy in which political loyalties and reciprocated favours are the norm.  

Where I'm from, more and more people are living in the suburbs (increasingly out of necessity), and the housing prices are rising grossly out of proportion with wages. Average car insurance prices in the GTA are just plain criminal. 

We also have citizens who purposely abuse the welfare/employment system with relative ease, while others work two jobs to keep a roof over their heads. The latter pays the taxes. Yesterday my less-than-proud view of Canada's civic infrastructure intensified when I found out that someone who murdered a friend of mine got a 10-year prison sentence. Guess who pays the bill?

It all just seems kind of bizarre, and most travellers I tell this to seem to agree. 

Anyway, you get the picture.  I've repeatedly said that I'd take 50 years in Asia over 90 years in an Ontario Suburb.

Then today I was walking around Hue and met a man named Dung. He was sitting against a fence beside the sidewalk, and was wearing a military veteran hat with an American flag on it, which is pretty rare here. It turns out he is a 61-year-old former schoolteacher.  He also happened to fight with the pro-American ARVN forces during the Vietnam War. I suggested we go for lunch, and we did.  

Here is what I learned from him:

When Saigon fell to the communists in 1975, Dung and all other known non-communists were forced to report to the new authorities and were subsequently banned from their previous professions (especially if they were "white collar"). Dung was sentenced to 3 years of hard labour and near-starvation in a prison camp near the Chinese border. After his time in prison, he and others like him have been spending most of their lives farming instead of returning to their professions as teachers, doctors, lawyers, and other such careers. They had—and still have—little choice. Even his children's career prospects suffer because of Dung's association with the anti-communist forces. He is also not allowed to leave the country.

Here are some other interesting facts:

-Vietnamese citizens have to pay for health care or insurance
-Vietnamese citizens have to pay for some of their "public" schooling
-Speaking publicly against the government is a punishable offence 

The brand of communism here is not exactly in keeping with theory. There is, however, a ton of propaganda everywhere, which I expected. Massive red flags and Ho Chi Minh banners are ubiquitous. There is also no shortage of suspicious government buildings and military compounds. Just a few days ago I walked though a gate to see what was up with the beautiful gardens.  A man with an AK-47 swiftly came out of nowhere and kicked me out. I still have no idea what the place was. 

I'll conclude by reminding myself and you wonderful readers that no system is perfect. I still feel more alive here, but it is refreshing to regain some perspective on the other types of freedom Canada offers. 


Stay tuned....    Pictures and a more detailed a posting about Cambodia and Vietnam should be up at the end of the month.