[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

No Subject

Subject: 
Re: stereotypes
       
I am tay.  So, in one sense, what would I know?  But, in another sense,
we learn more about ourselves when we look through the eyes of others.

In choice of careers/education, yes, my Viet friends are very much
science oriented - engineering, medicine, computing.  Today I was very
surprised to meet 2 Viet students both taking social sciences.  It is
unusual.  Why? well maybe science sujects use the international language
of numbers, so that language difficultes are not such a disadvantage -
just a thought.

Materialism/consumerism?  Well, it's prety hard to catch up with the
Jones's after 600+ years of colonial exploitation.  So some hard
catching up needs to be done.  Generally it's done very efficioently and
effectively it seems to me.

One local issue here (Melbourne) is gambling. It is a big problem with a
big minority of Viet people here.  i hear stories nearly weekly about
some families being evicted from appartments for not paying rent because
of gambling.

There has been some recent psychological research done showing some
different approaches in Asian vs Western cultures.  I think maybe it is
true of Vietnamese too.  Fatalistic approaches have different effects,
according to this research for Asians than for Westerners.  Westerners
just get depressed when they feel powerless to get where they want. 
Asians tend to just go on trying, regardless.  I think there may be a
germ of truth in this. And certainly Vietnamese are no exception to
this.

The fatalism - maybe from the spritual side of Vietnamese culture - is
really quite peculiar for a tay.  I have one friend who really skirts
pretty close on occasions to getting himself in trouble with the law. 
When I point pout to him that what he is doing is bad he agrees it is
bad, he says that sometimes he is bad and "what can I do?"

Yes family is undoubtedly value number 1.  Sometimes it is very much at
the expense of the individual - especially Gay individuals.  there is a
downside to this strong commitment to family.  I have one gay Vietamese
friend who is shamelessly exploited by his brother (who kows or has
guessed that he is gay) and he just smiles and takes the exploitation. 
I don't think this is good for my friend, or for his brother.

Mike


-------------------------------------------------------------------