Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

From leductony@yahoo.com Wed Jan 26 12:38:17 2005

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 12:35:45 -0800 (PST)

From: Anthony Le <leductony@yahoo.com>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

Hello group,

I have an issue of discussion that I hope to get some input in. A few years ago, Sinh Vien magazine introduced the term "The He @" (Generation @) to identify the generation of Vietnamese youths born since 1980 and grow up in an era of great technological advances, especially the internet (the "@" is inspired by the email address). Some of the characteristics reserved for this generation are similar to those attached to "Gen Y" in the U.S. For example, highly individualistic, materialistic, self-motivated, well-informed, etc.

THe term "Gen @" has also been advanced or hyped by a number of individuals leading to the Documentary "Nhung Cong Dan @" introduced to the public last year. However, it seems to me that this label is a misnomer in many respects, among which is the fact that only a small portion of Vietnamese youths actually have access to the internet.

My question which I am hoping to get input in is:

If we were to give this generation of Vietnamese youths a label, what should we call them?

Beginning with what year does this generation start?

What fundamentals in Vietnamese society should be considered in coming to a reasonable label?

I have been thinking about this issue for some time but have not been able to think of a satisfactory answer. So I thought I'd put it to this forum for input. Thanks!

Anthony

From Thanhyn@hotmail.com Wed Jan 26 15:23:58 2005

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 17:22:25 -0600

Subject: Re: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

in regards to your statement that only a small number of Vietnamese youths have access to internet....perhaps this might be the case in rural areas, but in HCMC internet cafes are everywhere and extremely inexpensive (as little as 3,000 VND an hour) and young people are becoming extremely internet saavy....

Thanh Nguyen

From leductony@yahoo.com Wed Jan 26 15:40:03 2005

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 15:36:38 -0800 (PST)

From: Anthony Le <leductony@yahoo.com>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

I have been living in HCMC, so I know the extent to which the internet is popular here. However, the number is still "small" when we compare against the total population of young people in Vietnam. Even if we compare all the cities against the total population of about 50 million people born after 1975, the number of young people on the internet is still in the minority.

From ncbui@mailbox.syr.edu Wed Jan 26 18:56:26 2005

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 21:54:26 -0500

From: CamLy N Bui <ncbui@mailbox.syr.edu>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: RE: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

Just a couple of remarks and thoughts on Generation @:

1. As far as I remember, the term was used by Phan Huyen Thu, a young writer in her early 30s, who wrote the script for the film Generation @. In her interview with Tuoi Tre Newspaper some 2 years ago, she loosely defined Generation @ as a generation living in fast pace, engaging in cyber world, enjoying hi-tech gadgets (e.g., trendy cell phones, Honda @,) workshiping individualism, and aspiring to excel in professional career. This generation, in her view, also tries to keep ties with and search for continuity from past generations, not necessarily discards everything that was achieved by previous generations.

2. One of the points Huyen Thu made in this interview was that the above-mentioned definition is "the insider’s view,’ which basically means a Generation @ speaking of the Generation @. This implies that previous generations do not have adequate understanding of the new generation, and such a statement on Generation @ is there to fill the void.

3. There’s actually no fixed age for Generation @. But I would loosely put those who were 15, 16 in the mid 90s (when Internet was introduced in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and a couple of big cities) at the bottom, and those who were born around the year 1975 at the ceiling.

4. Age aside, Huyen Thu’s definition seems to exclude some 80% of the young population in Vietnam. She’s more interested in urban, well-educated middle-class people (if there’s such a definition in VN), who can afford cell phones, trendy Honda @, or earn foreign currencies (or the equal.) Talking about Internet usage in VN, I believe getting online does not automatically make one a Generation @. If you look closely into the practice of going online, you may find more people chatting and playing games than people doing anything else. Those who chat may not even know how to surf the Net efficiently, let along using it for educational purposes. You can find hundreds of young guys and girls chatting away in dozens of cyber-cafes in Can Tho, Hue, or Da Nang.

5. In Vietnam, some people consider Generation @ a somewhat negative definition, partly because @ is tied to certain negative implication. For example, young people riding Honda @ are seen as rich and extravagant individuals who like to show off their wealth. However, Generation @ are now widely used in the media: They target the urban educated young rather than those guys and girls chatting away (and doing nothing else) in the cafes.

6. In my view, a proper definition or term should be more than just about how technology nurtures a generation. In other word, it’s more than just @. Of course the integration to the world that opens the young eyes came partly from technological advances. However, one would need to take into account social and political changes that give the opportunity to those advances to become available to the public. In this regard, this new generation is better tied with Opportunities.

Regards,

From markustaussig@mac.com Wed Jan 26 20:00:30 2005

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 10:57:41 +0700

From: Markus Taussig <markustaussig@mac.com>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

My impression is that the "Generation @" label has much more to do with the expensive bike than with the Internet, reflecting the fact that the bike is (or at least was) one of the top status symbols in the country.

The main use of the internet by many in the grouping seems to be online chatting. It was really incredible to see a few years back how -- when police cracked down on late night disco-ing -- they continued to allow the internet shops to stay open all night and these shops would have dozens of @ bikes outside and be absolutely packed with 20-somethings video chatting and still dressed for dancing.

I think it's pretty hard to resist fascination with this group when living in Vietnam, just because they're so ever present and so representative of the positive changes, as well as the hypocrisies and other negative elements of change, that have proliferated under doi moi. The "Generation @" are both very closely tied to Party parentage and also very much exactly what the fathers of communism thought was the very worst of capitalism. That said, they also represent many of the most important factors behind Vietnam's success over the past couple decades: ambition, openness to change, outward perspective, energy, stress on services and quality. I think the generation's disregard and disinterest in the traditional, old school concept of manufacturing productivity emphasized by communism and greater interest in technology and services stressed by "globalization" is particularly interesting. Their priviledge, hypocrisy, and lack of self-awareness, in turn, are sure to remain sources of popular discontent for a long time to come. This, I think, has much to do with what ordinary people interpret from their behavior means about the current activities of their powerful parents.

Regards,

Markus

_______________________________

Markus D. Taussig

Private Sector Development Research

VoIP (Global Access) Tel: (202) 204 0963

Vietnam Mobile: (84) 903 25 8774

markustaussig@mac.com

http://homepage.mac.com/markustaussig/

Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 06:02:23 -0800 (PST)

From: Anthony Le <leductony@yahoo.com>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

I suppose there are two separate "@" groups (wouldn't call them a generation though), one composes of youths who are internet savvy and really taking advantage of information technology to enrich their lives intellectually and economically. This group, especially those who enter and win competitions like Tri Tue Viet Nam, gets the praises in the press. And they do not necessarily have anything to do with the other "@" group, which is the Honda @ group composed of spoiled brats of wealthy and powerful parents and who is the target of much public ostracization. I agree with Markus that the public content is not so much focused on these kids themselves, but their enablers who exploit their positions to obtain wealth at the expense of the public. At the same time, when perusing the newspaper articles and listening to conversations on the street, one can't help but detect some jealousy in the tone of voice, which means that if the people were able to have and do some of the things these kids have and do, they wouldn't so quickly refuse. THis is just one of many places where we see schizophrenia in Vietnamese society today.

From ProschanF@folklife.si.edu Fri Jan 28 06:48:42 2005

Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 09:43:37 -0500

From: Frank Proschan <ProschanF@folklife.si.edu>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

What is the phonology of "@" in Vietnamese? How does one say "Generation @" or "Honda @" in Vietnamese? "Spacy" and "Dream" I can manage, but I cannot imagine how to pronounce "@" properly in Vietnamese. And lord knows I don't want to show my ignorance by mispronouncing it. How-to's will be most gratefully appreciated.

Frank Proschan

Project Director

From leductony@yahoo.com Fri Jan 28 07:07:03 2005

Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 07:04:57 -0800 (PST)

From: Anthony Le <leductony@yahoo.com>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

Hmmm...The word is pronounced two ways:

a co ~ng (ah - kong) with a descending accent on the second syllable.

or

a mo 'c (ah - mok) with a ascending ( ') accent on the second syllable.

Just remember that the "ong" or "ok" sound here does not rhyme with "long" (English). It has a shorter o sound.

From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Fri Jan 28 07:19:37 2005

Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 08:17:37 -0700

From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: RE: Labeling a generation of young Vietnamese

In Vietnamese @ is called "a co`ng". Apart from being used in the e-mail address, @ also the mark of an expensive motor bike (xe a co`ng !).

In a recent article on the Tuoi Tre daily news, Phan Huye^`n Thu+ also used the term "the^' he^. 8x" (i.e., the 8x generation). Some thought by saying 8x, Phan Huyen Thu implies "those who were born in the 1980s". I found it intriguing that in the present-day China and Japan, there are also terms equivalent to the above. Having not followed this debate closely, however, I will stop here.

Best,

VS