Street Radio
From: Dana Sachs <sachs@bellsouth.net>
Date: 2008/9/24
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Hi all,
A number of years ago, I learned a Vietnamese term that was translated for me as “street radio.” It described the system of rumors circulating in Vietnam during the subsidized period in the 1980s. In this context, I was told, neighbors used “street radio” to warn each other about upcoming fluctuations in the Vietnamese currency.
I’m interested to know two things. First, can anyone tell me the Vietnamese word for this “street radio”? And, second, I’d like to know how generally it was used. Specifically, can I use the term to describe the rumors circulating through South Vietnam just before the war ended in 1975? Or, if there was another term used in the south at that time, what was it?
Thanks,
Dana Sachs
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
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From: Hue-Tam Ho Tai <hhtai@fas.harvard.edu>
Date: 2008/9/24
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
When I was growing up in the South, rumors were often described as "radio mieng," mouth radio.
Hue-Tam Ho Tai
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From: Joseph Hannah <jhannah@u.washington.edu>
Date: Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 1:39 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I have hear American vets use the term "bamboo telegraph" to indicate
informal communication systems used by Vietnamese -- often in the
context that the "bamboo telegraph" seemed more efficient than
official channels... Is there a similar Vietnamese term?
Joe
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From: Stephen Denney <sdenney@ocf.berkeley.edu>
Date: Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 2:38 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
What about the term, Radio Catinat?
Steve Denney
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From: David Marr <dgm405@coombs.anu.edu.au>
Date: 2008/9/24
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Wasn't the term `radio Catinat' also current at that time, for the rumor mill in the coffee shops along that Saigon street?
By way of comparison, here in Australia we have the `bush telegraph'.
David Marr
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From: Dana Sachs <sachs@bellsouth.net>
Date: Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 5:41 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
This is all very helpful. Thanks to everyone who responded so promptly. Once
again, it reminds me of what an amazing resource the VSG is.
Dana
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From: Toan (CSDP) <dthypt@gmail.com>
Date: 2008/9/24
To: l vsg <VSG@u.washington.edu>
Dear Dana,
(I am from Hanoi -> meaning from the North):
1. I am pretty sure "street radio" is from "Thong tan Xa Via He" / "Thông tấn Xã Vỉa Hè" (Pavement / Sidewalk News Agency).
2. In relation to "street radio" there is "Vo tuyen Truyen Mieng" / "Vô tuyến Truyền Miệng" [(Wireless) Radio By Mouth)]. Obviously, this "Vo tuyen Truyen Mieng" was produced from "Vo tuyen Truyen hinh" (Television).
3. Also, have you heard of "Tin Vit" / "Tin Vịt" (Duck News)? It is used to say it is very likely that piece of news is from a quacking duck.
rgds./toan.
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From: Hue-Tam Ho Tai <hhtai@fas.harvard.edu>
Date: 2008/9/24
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I think Radio Catinat was a term more likely to be used by foreign reporters than by Vietnamese, because that is where foreign journalists used to hang out (and by 1965, the proliferation of night clubs and bars put it out of bounds for a lot of Vietnamese).
"Radio mieng" is the same as "vo tuyen truyen mieng", except that southerners were more likely to use French words such as "radio." I never heard the expression "dai truyen thanh via he" of which "street radio" is the exact translation.
Hue-Tam Ho Tai.
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From: Emma Masters <emma.masters@gmail.com>
Date: 2008/9/24
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear all
When working for Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Tong tan Xa Viet Nam, one of my colleagues described the colloquial use of Tong tan Xa, and adding “Via He”… describing it exactly as Toan outlined… sidewalk news agency… “the word on the street”. She told me it was a commonly used term many years ago, perhaps referring to the period Dana describes?
Interestingly enough, while working as a volunteer for a Vietnamese NGO they also used the term “duck news” when describing general internal news emails.
Emma Masters
Vietnam Television
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From: Judith Henchy <judithh@u.washington.edu>
Date: 2008/9/25
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Was there a Vietnamese translation of the "fil de coco" of the 1930s?
Judith Henchy
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