Ton That
Anthony Le wrote:
I've been receiving this message from a number of
different people regarding the "Ton That" family name,
so I thought I'd forward it to VSG members for your
enjoyment. (Sorry I haven't had the chance to
translate to english).
Phan dau boi nhieu doi, cuoi cung dong ho Ton That
cung co duoc nhung vi tri chu chot trong xa hoi. Chugn
toi tran trong gioi thieu:
- Bo truong Bo GD & DT: Ton That Hoc.
- Bo truong Bo Lao dong, thuong binh va xa hoi: Ton
That Nghiep.
- Bo truong bo Y te: Ton That Duc.
- Bo truong bo Quoc phong: Ton That Thu.
- Bo truong bo NN&PTNT: Ton That Bat
- Bo truong bo Ngoai giao: Ton That The
- Bo truong bo ke hoach va dao tao: Ton That Sach
- Bo truong bo noi vu: Ton That Sung?.
- Bo truong bo tai chinh: Ton That Thu
Phấn đấu bao nhiêu đời,
cuối cùng dòng họ Tôn Thất cũng
có được những vị trí
chủ chốt trong xã hội. Chúng tôi
trân trọng giới thiệu: - Bộ
trưởng Bộ GD&ĐT: Tôn Thất
Học - Bộ trưởng Bộ Lao
đông, thương binh và xã hội: Tôn
Thất Nghiệp. - Bộ trưởng
Bộ Y tế: Tôn Thất Đức -
Bộ trưởng Bộ Quốc phòng:
Tôn Thất Thủ - Bộ trưởng
bộ NN&PTNT: Tôn Thất Bát - Bộ
trưởng Bộ Ngoại giao: Tôn
Thất Thế - Bộ Trưởng
Bộ KH&ĐT: Tôn Thất Sách - Bộ
trưởng Bộ Nội vụ: Tôn
Thất Sủng - Bộ trưởng
Bộ Tài chính: Tôn Thất Thu
Dear All and Anthony,
I could not find anything enjoyable at all in this message. I am afraid that I find it very mean and rude to those who have Ton That as their last name.
Thanh Nguyen
Instructor of Vietnamese Language and Culture
Mission College
Santa Clara, California, USA
Hi,
I myself am a descendant of this family line, but I
don't find it at all offensive. Though no expert on
political satire, I believe the point of political
cartoon/satire is to look at the intention and the
commentary rather than focusing, in this case, on the
personal dimension of the name. In Vietnam, many
common people have made numerous "jokes" about leaders
such as Pham Van Dong, Do Muoi, Ho Chi Minh by playing
words with their last names. In this case, ought the
people with last names "Pham", "Do" and "Ho" ought to
feel offended? I think the people who possess these
family names, including "Ton That" is smart enought to
realize the difference between whether the
satire/cartoon is directed at them or at something
else.
Cheers,
AL
Agreed with Anthony. In fact "Ton That" folks should be very proud when you guys' names are topic for joking :-) How many people have that honor :-) ?
(Ho Chi Minh, Do Muoi,
I remember, few years ago, there was a famous satirical sentence that list Poliburo and Central Committee Members of Communist Party of Vietnam.
Muoi Anh Nong Dan Cam Binh Huong Sang My Cau Luong (10 peasants bring the altar vase to America asking for salary :-)
Do Muoi, Le Duc Anh, Nong Duc Manh, Tam Dan (Le Duan), Nguyen Thi Binh, Le Minh Huong, Truong Tan Sang, Truong MY Hoa, Cau (???), Tran Duc Luong
Well, something for the weekend.
Toan