Fathers, Flags, and Modern-Day Fanaticism: A Short Story about Cold War Grand Theories and Ordinary Vietnamese Australian People

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Volumn 28, Issue 5, 2003, Pages 517-544

  Huynh, Kim ^a  

^a AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

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EID: 0346938330     PISSN: 03043754     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/030437540302800501     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. The controversy over Vietnamese flags has not waned in the two decades since my father's severe assessment of my assignment. In January 2003, a Virginia State House Committee in the United States proposed that the South Vietnamese flag be "the only flag depicting the country of Vietnam that may be displayed" at public state functions, including schools. Robert D. Hull, who sponsored the proposal, suggested that of the large Vietnamese American population in the state, "Ninety-nine percent owe their allegiance to the South Vietnam flag" and that Vietnamese American students were embarrassed when the official flag was displayed at school. Not surprisingly, the Vietnamese embassy in Washington strongly disapproved of the bill and have lobbied for it to be rejected. In an infamous incident in 1999, thousands of Vietnamese Americans protested in front of a video store in Westminster, California, after the owner displayed the official Vietnamese flag and a poster of Hê Chí Minh: Tyler Whitley, "South Vietnam flag Ok'd," Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 29, 2003: www.timesdispatch.com/news/politics/MGBR46FOIBD (February 1, 2003); Steven Ginsberg and William Branigin, "Bid to Honor South Vietnamese Elicits Anger: Va. Bill to Display Defeated Republic's Flag," Washington Post staff writers, January 29, 2003, p. B01: www.usvtc.org/News/Jan%2003/bid_to_honor_south_vietnamese_el (February 4, 2003).
2. The controversy over Vietnamese flags has not waned in the two decades since my father's severe assessment of my assignment. In January 2003, a Virginia State House Committee in the United States proposed that the South Vietnamese flag be "the only flag depicting the country of Vietnam that may be displayed" at public state functions, including schools. Robert D. Hull, who sponsored the proposal, suggested that of the large Vietnamese American population in the state, "Ninety-nine percent owe their allegiance to the South Vietnam flag" and that Vietnamese American students were embarrassed when the official flag was displayed at school. Not surprisingly, the Vietnamese embassy in Washington strongly disapproved of the bill and have lobbied for it to be rejected. In an infamous incident in 1999, thousands of Vietnamese Americans protested in front of a video store in Westminster, California, after the owner displayed the official Vietnamese flag and a poster of Hê Chí Minh: Tyler Whitley, "South Vietnam flag Ok'd," Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 29, 2003: www.timesdispatch.com/news/politics/MGBR46FOIBD (February 1, 2003); Steven Ginsberg and William Branigin, "Bid to Honor South Vietnamese Elicits Anger: Va. Bill to Display Defeated Republic's Flag," Washington Post staff writers, January 29, 2003, p. B01: www.usvtc.org/News/Jan%2003/bid_to_honor_south_vietnamese_el (February 4, 2003).
3. For more on "subverting from within" and "tactical" behavior as the "art of the weak," see Michel de Certeau, Irans. Steven F. Rendall, The Practice of Everyday Life (Berkeley: California UP, 1984), pp. 30-37. An anthropological analysis of everyday resistance can be found in the work of James C. Scott. Scott argues that everyday resistance can be characterized as acts that "require little or no coordination or planning; they often represent a form of individual self-help; and they typically avoid any direct symbolic confrontation with authority or with elite norms." He posits examples such as "foot dragging, dissimulation, false compliance, pilfering, feigned ignorance, slander, arson, sabotage." James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven: Yale UP, 1985), p. 29. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven: Yale UP, 1990).
4. For more on "subverting from within" and "tactical" behavior as the "art of the weak," see Michel de Certeau, Irans. Steven F. Rendall, The Practice of Everyday Life (Berkeley: California UP, 1984), pp. 30-37. An anthropological analysis of everyday resistance can be found in the work of James C. Scott. Scott argues that everyday resistance can be characterized as acts that "require little or no coordination or planning; they often represent a form of individual self-help; and they typically avoid any direct symbolic confrontation with authority or with elite norms." He posits examples such as "foot dragging, dissimulation, false compliance, pilfering, feigned ignorance, slander, arson, sabotage." James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven: Yale UP, 1985), p. 29. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven: Yale UP, 1990).
5. For more on "subverting from within" and "tactical" behavior as the "art of the weak," see Michel de Certeau, Irans. Steven F. Rendall, The Practice of Everyday Life (Berkeley: California UP, 1984), pp. 30-37. An anthropological analysis of everyday resistance can be found in the work of James C. Scott. Scott argues that everyday resistance can be characterized as acts that "require little or no coordination or planning; they often represent a form of individual self-help; and they typically avoid any direct symbolic confrontation with authority or with elite norms." He posits examples such as "foot dragging, dissimulation, false compliance, pilfering, feigned ignorance, slander, arson, sabotage." James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven: Yale UP, 1985), p. 29. See also James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven: Yale UP, 1990).
6. Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved (New York: Vintage, 1988), p. 30.
7. Brian Matthews, Louisa (Melbourne: McPhee Gribble, 1987), p. 13.
8. All the informants consented to being interviewed. Sometimes the interviewing was formal, in the sense that I had a voice recorder and a clipboard. At other times the interviews had no clear start and finish, were conducted during long walks, or while washing dishes. The advantage of the latter variety is that there was often a greater sense of emotional and recollective authenticity, memories spontaneously recalled, rather than brought into the harsh and artificial light of a formal interview. However, where I relied on such informal methods, I ensured that the data was recorded immediately afterward and that the informant knew that her or his words had been recorded.
9. On August 26, 2001, the captain of the Norwegian cargo ship the MV Tampa rescued more than 430 (primarily Afghan) asylum seekers from their sinking ferry in the Indian Ocean. He started taking them back to Indonesia, but shortly afterward conceded to demands from the asylum seekers that they be ferried to Australia. When the Tampa approached Australian shores, the Australian government refused to provide refuge for those onboard. The prime minister of Australia, John Howard, remarked soon afterward, "We will do everything we can to defend the integrity of our borders consistent with our international obligations and the behaviour of a humane, decent country." The majority of the asylum seekers were eventually transferred for processing to the Pacific island of Nauru: David Marr and Marian Wilkinson, "Tampa Tantrums," The Age, October 20, 2001 www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/10/20/FFX1KTUVYSC (November 30, 2001); Deb Whitmont "To Deter and Deny," a Four Corners TV program transcript, broadcast April 15, 2002 www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s531993 (April 16, 2002).
10. On August 26, 2001, the captain of the Norwegian cargo ship the MV Tampa rescued more than 430 (primarily Afghan) asylum seekers from their sinking ferry in the Indian Ocean. He started taking them back to Indonesia, but shortly afterward conceded to demands from the asylum seekers that they be ferried to Australia. When the Tampa approached Australian shores, the Australian government refused to provide refuge for those onboard. The prime minister of Australia, John Howard, remarked soon afterward, "We will do everything we can to defend the integrity of our borders consistent with our international obligations and the behaviour of a humane, decent country." The majority of the asylum seekers were eventually transferred for processing to the Pacific island of Nauru: David Marr and Marian Wilkinson, "Tampa Tantrums," The Age, October 20, 2001 www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/10/20/FFX1KTUVYSC (November 30, 2001); Deb Whitmont "To Deter and Deny," a Four Corners TV program transcript, broadcast April 15, 2002 www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s531993 (April 16, 2002).
11. Members of the Royal Australian Navy later acknowledged that the child had been thrown into the water. The photo that Defence Minister Peter Reith released to the media was actually taken on the second day of the incident, after the boat, categorized as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel number four (SIEV 4), had started sinking and the asylum seekers were forced to disembark: Greg Jennet "Government under Fire over Asylum Seeker Video," a Lateline TV program transcript, broadcast November 8, 2001, www.abc.net.au/lateline/s412258 (November 30, 2001); David Weber, "Questions over Boat People 'Stunts,'" an AM radio program transcript, November 8, 2001, www.abc.net.au/am/s410960 (November 30, 2001); Whitmont, note 6.
12. Members of the Royal Australian Navy later acknowledged that the child had been thrown into the water. The photo that Defence Minister Peter Reith released to the media was actually taken on the second day of the incident, after the boat, categorized as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel number four (SIEV 4), had started sinking and the asylum seekers were forced to disembark: Greg Jennet "Government under Fire over Asylum Seeker Video," a Lateline TV program transcript, broadcast November 8, 2001, www.abc.net.au/lateline/s412258 (November 30, 2001); David Weber, "Questions over Boat People 'Stunts,'" an AM radio program transcript, November 8, 2001, www.abc.net.au/am/s410960 (November 30, 2001); Whitmont, note 6.
13. Members of the Royal Australian Navy later acknowledged that the child had been thrown into the water. The photo that Defence Minister Peter Reith released to the media was actually taken on the second day of the incident, after the boat, categorized as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel number four (SIEV 4), had started sinking and the asylum seekers were forced to disembark: Greg Jennet "Government under Fire over Asylum Seeker Video," a Lateline TV program transcript, broadcast November 8, 2001, www.abc.net.au/lateline/s412258 (November 30, 2001); David Weber, "Questions over Boat People 'Stunts,'" an AM radio program transcript, November 8, 2001, www.abc.net.au/am/s410960 (November 30, 2001); Whitmont, note 6.
14. The Age (Melbourne), "Demonising the Boat People," October 12, 2001, www.theage.com.au/opinion/2001/10/12/FFXB4Z5GNSC (November 30, 2001).
15. The picture released by the defense minister at that time showed a woman and her child in brand-new fluorescent life jackets. At that stage, I mistakenly assumed that these life jackets belonged to asylum seekers. So, too, perhaps did the Australian immigration minister, Phillip Ruddock, who derided the refugees for having life jackets as this indicated that the action was "clearly planned and premeditated." The life jackets, it was later discovered, belonged to the navy and had been thrown to the asylum seekers after they had jumped from their sinking vessel: BBC News, "Refugee Children 'Thrown from Ship,'" October 7, 2001, news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1584000/1584024.stm (November 30, 2001); Anna Cock and Mark Ludlow, "Boatpeople Throw Children Overboard," news.com.au, October 8, 2001, news.com.au/common/story_page/z0,4057,3006934%255E2,00 (November 30, 2001).
16. The picture released by the defense minister at that time showed a woman and her child in brand-new fluorescent life jackets. At that stage, I mistakenly assumed that these life jackets belonged to asylum seekers. So, too, perhaps did the Australian immigration minister, Phillip Ruddock, who derided the refugees for having life jackets as this indicated that the action was "clearly planned and premeditated." The life jackets, it was later discovered, belonged to the navy and had been thrown to the asylum seekers after they had jumped from their sinking vessel: BBC News, "Refugee Children 'Thrown from Ship,'" October 7, 2001, news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_1584000/1584024.stm (November 30, 2001); Anna Cock and Mark Ludlow, "Boatpeople Throw Children Overboard," news.com.au, October 8, 2001, news.com.au/common/story_page/z0,4057,3006934%255E2,00 (November 30, 2001).
17. Neil L. Jamieson, Understanding Vietnam (Berkeley: California UP, 1993), pp. 283-284.
18. In his call to arms against the French on December 19, 1946, President Hê Chí Minh urged the people to "sacrifice to the last drop of blood to retain the country" (Ta phêi hy sinh dên git mâu cuêi cùng dê giê gìn dêt nuêe): Hê Chí Minh, Toàn Têp: Têp 4 (Collected Works: vol. 4) (Hà Nêi: Nhà Xuêt Bên Se Thêt, 1984), 202-203; cited in Trên Bá De, Lêch Sê Viêt Nam: Tê 1858 Dên Nay (The history of Viêt Nam: From 1858 to present [2d ed.]) (Hà Nêi: Nhà Xuêt Bên Dêi Hêc Quêc Gia Hà Nêi, 2001), p. 247.
19. In his call to arms against the French on December 19, 1946, President Hê Chí Minh urged the people to "sacrifice to the last drop of blood to retain the country" (Ta phêi hy sinh dên git mâu cuêi cùng dê giê gìn dêt nuêe): Hê Chí Minh, Toàn Têp: Têp 4 (Collected Works: vol. 4) (Hà Nêi: Nhà Xuêt Bên Se Thêt, 1984), 202-203; cited in Trên Bá De, Lêch Sê Viêt Nam: Tê 1858 Dên Nay (The history of Viêt Nam: From 1858 to present [2d ed.]) (Hà Nêi: Nhà Xuêt Bên Dêi Hêc Quêc Gia Hà Nêi, 2001), p. 247.
20. Interzone V was a Viêt Minh-controlled area that ran along the coast of central Viêt Nam. The colonists considered this area to be of great strategic importance because it was a major source of supplies and troops for the revolutionary forces: William J. Duiker, The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam, 2d ed. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1996), p. 175.
21. Greg Lockhart, Nation in Arms: The Origins of the People's Army of Vietnam (Sydney: Alien & Unwin, 1989), p. 234.
22. Dê ai biêt duêc nuêe Trung Hoa hùng cuêng te doê Nào có khó chi mà! Nay em xin nói lien ?! Cê Trung Hoa hùng anh nãm sao vàng trên nên de tuõi. Dê ai biêt duêc nuêe Ba Lan hùng cuêng tê do ?
23. Walt W. Rostow, The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto (New York: Cambridge UP, 1960).
24. For more on U.S. interventions in Latin America in the late twentieth century, see Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, trans., Cedric Belfage (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1973), pp. 225-287; Richard R. Fagan, Carmen Diana Deere, and Jose Luis Coraggio, eds., Transition and Development: Problems of Third World Socialism (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1986); Richard Fagan, Forging Peace: The Challenge for Central America (New York: Blackwell, 1987).
25. For more on U.S. interventions in Latin America in the late twentieth century, see Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, trans., Cedric Belfage (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1973), pp. 225-287; Richard R. Fagan, Carmen Diana Deere, and Jose Luis Coraggio, eds., Transition and Development: Problems of Third World Socialism (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1986); Richard Fagan, Forging Peace: The Challenge for Central America (New York: Blackwell, 1987).
26. For more on U.S. interventions in Latin America in the late twentieth century, see Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, trans., Cedric Belfage (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1973), pp. 225-287; Richard R. Fagan, Carmen Diana Deere, and Jose Luis Coraggio, eds., Transition and Development: Problems of Third World Socialism (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1986); Richard Fagan, Forging Peace: The Challenge for Central America (New York: Blackwell, 1987).
27. Cited in Bùi Tín, Following Hê Chí Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonial, trans. Judy Stowe and Do Van (London: Hurst, 1995), p. 59. In actuality, Hê was married at least once, and had a child. More details on this highly controversial topic can be found in William J. Duiker, Ho Chi Minh (New York: Hyperion, 2000), p. 143.
28. Cited in Bùi Tín, Following Hê Chí Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonial, trans. Judy Stowe and Do Van (London: Hurst, 1995), p. 59. In actuality, Hê was married at least once, and had a child. More details on this highly controversial topic can be found in William J. Duiker, Ho Chi Minh (New York: Hyperion, 2000), p. 143.
29. Công cha nhu núi Thái Sõn, Nghêa me nhu nuêe trong nguên chêy ra.
30. Kim N. B. Ninh, A World Transformed: The Politics of Culture in Revolutionary Vietnam, 1945-1965 (Ann Arbor: Michigan UP, 2002), pp. 103-104.
31. In 1955, the CIA reported to Washington that if the elections were held in 1956, then Hê Chí Minh's government would "almost certainly win": Gabriel Kolko, Anatomy of a War: 1940-1975 (London: Alien & Unwin, 1985), p. 84.
32. Stephen E. Ambrose, Rise to Globalism (Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin, 1998), p. 191.
33. Marilyn B. Young, The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 (New York: HarperCollins, 1991), p. 51. Graham Greene, Sunday Times, May 1, 1955, cited in Ellen J. Hammer, The Struggle for Indochina, 1940-1955: Viet Nam and the French Experience (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford UP, 1955), p. 352 n. 20.
34. Marilyn B. Young, The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 (New York: HarperCollins, 1991), p. 51. Graham Greene, Sunday Times, May 1, 1955, cited in Ellen J. Hammer, The Struggle for Indochina, 1940-1955: Viet Nam and the French Experience (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford UP, 1955), p. 352 n. 20.
35. Marilyn B. Young, The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 (New York: HarperCollins, 1991), p. 51. Graham Greene, Sunday Times, May 1, 1955, cited in Ellen J. Hammer, The Struggle for Indochina, 1940-1955: Viet Nam and the French Experience (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford UP, 1955), p. 352 n. 20.
36. Young, note 22, p. 51 n. 24.
37. Giêt lêm hõn là sêng sot.
38. Tiziano Terzani, Giai Phong! The Fall and Liberation of Saigon, trans. John Shepley (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1976), p. 294.
39. Tê trên thêng hôm nay, Ta xây lêi bêng muêi.
40. Lao dêng là vinh quang.
41. An interesting and alternative perspective on manual labor from a revolutionary soldier is recorded by Terzani: "As for manual work, that's something the country has an enormous need of. If you discuss it with the puppets, they all reassure you they want to participate in the reconstruction of the country; they discuss it in the cafes. They reconstruct everything with words. But if you put a shovel in their hands and ask them to fill up the craters made by their own bombs and those of the Americans, then they tell you they're at forced labor": Terzani, note 25, p. 236, n. 28. This view accords with the official line of the Socialist Republic of Viêt Nam at that time, which derided the many middle-class Vietnamese in the South used to the "high life," unwilling to make personal sacrifices, and resenting their "blood debts" to the people: Nhân Dân, November 25, 1978; cited in William J. Duiker, Vietnam Since the Fall of Saigon (Athens: Ohio UP, 1989), p. 6.
42. An interesting and alternative perspective on manual labor from a revolutionary soldier is recorded by Terzani: "As for manual work, that's something the country has an enormous need of. If you discuss it with the puppets, they all reassure you they want to participate in the reconstruction of the country; they discuss it in the cafes. They reconstruct everything with words. But if you put a shovel in their hands and ask them to fill up the craters made by their own bombs and those of the Americans, then they tell you they're at forced labor": Terzani, note 25, p. 236, n. 28. This view accords with the official line of the Socialist Republic of Viêt Nam at that time, which derided the many middle-class Vietnamese in the South used to the "high life," unwilling to make personal sacrifices, and resenting their "blood debts" to the people: Nhân Dân, November 25, 1978; cited in William J. Duiker, Vietnam Since the Fall of Saigon (Athens: Ohio UP, 1989), p. 6.
43. An interesting and alternative perspective on manual labor from a revolutionary soldier is recorded by Terzani: "As for manual work, that's something the country has an enormous need of. If you discuss it with the puppets, they all reassure you they want to participate in the reconstruction of the country; they discuss it in the cafes. They reconstruct everything with words. But if you put a shovel in their hands and ask them to fill up the craters made by their own bombs and those of the Americans, then they tell you they're at forced labor": Terzani, note 25, p. 236, n. 28. This view accords with the official line of the Socialist Republic of Viêt Nam at that time, which derided the many middle-class Vietnamese in the South used to the "high life," unwilling to make personal sacrifices, and resenting their "blood debts" to the people: Nhân Dân, November 25, 1978; cited in William J. Duiker, Vietnam Since the Fall of Saigon (Athens: Ohio UP, 1989), p. 6.
44. Mêt nãm ba thuêc vêi, Làm sao mà che Bác Hê em õi?
45. Không gì qúi hõn dêc Up têê do. Some critics of the current leadership in Viêt Nam contend that the quotation is not complete and that it originally contained the additional phrase "and without freedom there is no independence; see note 1 in the introduction to Duiker, note 17, p. 582.
46. Duiker, note 17, pp. 6, 15, n. 33.
47. Trêng cây muêi nãm, mà trêng nguêi mêt trãm nãm.
48. The Four Books are the Book of Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, and Mencius. The Five Canons are the Book of Changes, Book of History, Book of Poetry, Book of Rites, and The Spring and Autumn Annals. For more on literature and cultural purges, see Jamieson, note 10, p. 362, n. 10; Terzani, note 25, pp. 208-214; and Philip Taylor, Fragments of the Present: Searching for Modernity in Vietnam's South (Honolulu: Allen & Unwin and Hawai'i UP, 2001), pp. 119-158.
49. The Four Books are the Book of Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, and Mencius. The Five Canons are the Book of Changes, Book of History, Book of Poetry, Book of Rites, and The Spring and Autumn Annals. For more on literature and cultural purges, see Jamieson, note 10, p. 362, n. 10; Terzani, note 25, pp. 208-214; and Philip Taylor, Fragments of the Present: Searching for Modernity in Vietnam's South (Honolulu: Allen & Unwin and Hawai'i UP, 2001), pp. 119-158.
50. The Four Books are the Book of Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, and Mencius. The Five Canons are the Book of Changes, Book of History, Book of Poetry, Book of Rites, and The Spring and Autumn Annals. For more on literature and cultural purges, see Jamieson, note 10, p. 362, n. 10; Terzani, note 25, pp. 208-214; and Philip Taylor, Fragments of the Present: Searching for Modernity in Vietnam's South (Honolulu: Allen & Unwin and Hawai'i UP, 2001), pp. 119-158.
51. Neil L. Jamieson suggests that more than a million people in the Republic of Viêt Nam, which had a population of a little more than twenty million, were ordered to report for reeducation: Jamieson, note 10, p. 363 n. 10. The ponderings of Bùi Tín (Bùi Tín, note 17, p. 91 n. 16.) on the issue of reeducation camps are also worth noting: I still shiver when I think about the hundreds of camps set up along Stalinist lines after 1975. . . . In fact there were those who said that these war criminals were responsible for the deaths of millions of our compatriots and comrades, so why should we feel compassion for them? War is war and the victors have the right to decide on its aftermath. Compassion should be saved for oneself. Why waste it on the enemy, those who stood on the firing line directly opposite us? Other people said I lacked true conviction and did not view matters objectively. They pointed to the fact that out of the million and more soldiers and officials of the Saigon regime, only about 100,000 were sent for long-term re-education. The other 90 percent were granted full rights as citizens.
52. Neil L. Jamieson suggests that more than a million people in the Republic of Viêt Nam, which had a population of a little more than twenty million, were ordered to report for reeducation: Jamieson, note 10, p. 363 n. 10. The ponderings of Bùi Tín (Bùi Tín, note 17, p. 91 n. 16.) on the issue of reeducation camps are also worth noting: I still shiver when I think about the hundreds of camps set up along Stalinist lines after 1975. . . . In fact there were those who said that these war criminals were responsible for the deaths of millions of our compatriots and comrades, so why should we feel compassion for them? War is war and the victors have the right to decide on its aftermath. Compassion should be saved for oneself. Why waste it on the enemy, those who stood on the firing line directly opposite us? Other people said I lacked true conviction and did not view matters objectively. They pointed to the fact that out of the million and more soldiers and officials of the Saigon regime, only about 100,000 were sent for long-term re-education. The other 90 percent were granted full rights as citizens.
53. The term moments of reprieve is taken from Primo Levi, Moments of Reprieve, trans. Ruth Feldman (Middlesex, U.K.: Penguin, 1986).
54. Duiker, note 17, p. 6 n. 31.
55. Thân em nhu têm lêa dào Phêt phõ giêa che biêt vào ai ? Em ngêi cành trúc, em têa cành mai, Dông dào tây liêu, biêt lêy ai bên cùng? Adaptation of popular Vietnamese folk poem: Trinh T. Minh-ha, Framer Framed (New York: Routledge, 1992), p. 90.
56. Cêng liêu nhêm mêt dua chân, Thê xem con têo xây vên dên dâu. For an excellent English translation, see Nguyên Du, The Tale of Kiêu, trans. Huênh Sanh Thông (New Haven: Yale UP, 1983).
57. Friedrich Nietzsche, Daybreak, trans. R. J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1962), sec. 563.