Inspired by the activism and sacrifices of the Burmese, Thai, Korean and Indonesian students in recent months, Vietnamese youth has started its own newsletter underground - the THAO THUC (RESTLESSNESS).
Like the "Saigonese", after only 2 issues, the dispersing staff of THAO THUC has spent most of their time in the past several weeks not to write but to cover their tracks from the Public Security hounds.
Following are excerpts from the 3rd issue of the THAO THUC newsletter.
Thankfulness and Tension
THAO THUC was forced to hide itself for the month of May. Police has cracked down on us. They tried to detect and choke this little newsletter. They are scared! Why is such huge ruling machinery with hundreds of newspapers scared of a bunch of students and an underground two-paged newsletter? That is because they (the government) are not that strong. They are like a sick giant who gets dizzy by just a breeze. Those governments that are not established on people's consent and justice are never strong.
Nowadays, Vietnam's society is like a warehouse of explosives; the Party, therefore, is afraid of a match. But even if THAO THUC is found and destroyed, there will be other THAO THUCs rising. The only solution is to get rid of the explosive warehouse; that means to democratize the country so that people are no longer angry. Oppression can only bring about hatred; Lenin, the father of communism himself, did proclaim as much.
Although being heavily hunted, we feel highly encouraged. Some brothers and sisters, who were interrogated, disclosed no information about THAO THUC and stood firmly. That was really a show of support for THAO THUC. From abroad, countless emails have been sent to many governmental offices attached with the THAO THUC newsletter. As a result, THAO THUC has been printed out for thousands of people to read. From inside the country, we have been informed that many elder people sent THAO THUC abroad and pleaded for the dissemination of the newsletter. We are touched and thankful to those hearts and even more determined to go forward. Though living in danger and poverty, we feel glad that we are struggling for freedom and democracy, for the country and for our people.
What is the value of a degree nowadays?
More than 60 brothers and sisters from the private Va(n Lang College were not allowed to take examinations for their degrees just because they were too poor to pay tuition. They came to school to appeal the decision but the board of directors still refused to change their mind. The Party's and government's newspapers, such as The Youth, Saigon Liberation, Ho Chi Minh City's Women, defended (the students) in a perfunctory manner, shed some fake tears and then ran away.
It has been the case for a long time that people with money can buy any degree they so desire; But such injustice has now risen to an outrageous level: no money, no degree. So, what is the value of a degree? We can't blame the Va(n Lang College's board of directors. The college is a private institution and needs to collect tuition to operate. But what about the government? The government just ignored the problem. Only a few state-controlled newspapers talked hypocritically about it. That is lying, crude, immoral, and irresponsible.
Recently, the Youth newspaper, on its May 5th issue, quoted a leader of the Ministry of Education and Training that many industrial zones can not find qualified people while 28,000 college graduates still cannot find jobs. The reason is that only 4% of those graduates are qualified and the other 96% of the graduates have to be retrained. So, a degree is nothing but a piece of paper, isn't it? And if a degree can not be trusted, then what measure can be used as standards for evaluating the applicants? Or should the applicants' qualification continue to rest on family's (ideological) history, money and governmental connection?
Where is the government? Where are the (state) banks? Why isn't the government providing aids for good students to take examinations for their degrees and to help other poor students? Why aren't the banks, just like in other countries, offering student loans which will be paid back after graduation? Mr. Nguye^~n Ta^'n Du~ng, the newly appointed State Central Bank's governor, what do you think? Or do you also think that a college degree is not necessary? since in your case, you need no degree to climb up the ladder this fast, like a kite in full wind. Keep fighting, our Va(n Lang's friends. We shall support you.
Indonesian students succeeded
On May 25th, 1998, only two months after forcing the puppet parliament to vote for his seventh presidency, the dictator, Suharto, was forced to resign; thus ending his 32 years of ruling and exploitation (of the nation's resources). Suharto is extremely cruel. He did order to kill almost a million Communist Party's members in 1965. Since last summer, Indonesia's economy has collapsed. Violence took place everywhere but Suharto was still standing firm. Not until Indonesian students got involved that he was removed from office. Only a few thousand students could make one of the world's most violent and die-hard regimes collapse.
The youth's strength is surprising. The end of any dictatorship will come when it harms the youth. Dear friends, our lives are miserable; our future is in darkness and dead-end; and our country is the most unfortunate. What do we have to lose? Let us stand up and follow the examples of students in Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand. We have a total of one million college and high school students. With just one tenth of a million students stand up, we can effectively demand this government accept democracy. By gaining democracy, we can help move the country forward, liberate our lives, and bring our people out of misery.
Stubbornness
On May 25th, 1998, Mr. Pham The Duyet, on behalf of the Politburo, met with Mr. Tran Do to officially respond to Mr. Do's proposals. Mr. Pham The Duyet declared that the Politburo had considered those proposals unacceptable since they are against the Party's goal and ideology.
Who is Mr. Tran Do? He is a retired Lieutenant-General, former Deputy Commissar of the Army, a DDie^.n Bie^n Phu?'s Hero, the former Vice-Chairman of the National Assembly, Member of the Party's Central Committee for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Congress. He was also the Chairman of the Party's Central Committee of Culture and Information.
What did he propose? A dialogue between the Communist Party and non-Communist intellectuals, freedom to vote and to run for offices, freedom of speech and freedom of the media.
The Communist Party can decline to discuss with the intellectuals, but the freedom to vote and to run for offices, the freedom of speech and freedom of the media, are rights that are written clearly in the Constitution. However, the Communist Party throws out those rights just because they are against the Party's ideology. Clearly, the Party is above the Constitution and the nation. This is truly shameless and insolent. If the Party continues to oppress people, then there shall come the day people rise up to get rid of the Party. The crueler it is, the more grievances it will cause (and the more consequences it will reap).
Amazing fact:
Tran Dan Tien, in his book "Stories of Chairman Hos life", claimed: "Our uncle Ho is very modest; he never talks about himself".
It took decades before people find out that Tran Dan Tien is one of many pen names of Mr. Ho Chi Minh.