It has been three years for me to be working here in Vietnam. It hasn't been easy. Vietnam was spesifically fashioned for the Vietnamese, not for foreigners. I'ts their country and they are extremely proud of it and fiercely nationalistic. I can't wait for my repatriation back to Malaysia. Vietnam is still considered a poor country, but it is not the reason why I didn't enjoy my time here. Living here is actually not so bad considering the weather and food choice is almost the same as Malaysia. It is the people that I can't actually stand. Although a few of Vietnamese trait really make them unique it really does test my patience and endurance.
1) They are very selfish and self centered.
One example that I can see every morning is when using a lift to my office. My office in Ho Chi Minh is considered an A type building, similar to KLCC in KL, so everybody who use it are mostly educated office people and not the rural type. Whenever the lift door started to close and there were people running for the door nobody inside even bothered to touch the open door button. Even when the lift is not so full and their fingers are just inches away from the button. They just doesn't care because it is not them who were running for the lift. That is how selfish they were.
2) Queuing up is not in their dictionary.
Vietnamese never queue. I have seen one of my office mate go straight to the airport counter without even bother to queue up and there were such a long queue at the back. Even at a 5 star hotel there were hardly any queue to eat the buffet. Again, this is the educated population, not the rural type. Whenever I go shopping for groceries at the local supermarket I had to wait to pay or weight my groceries because they just go straight to the counter without even bother to queue. In the end, I had to be like them too to survived, don't even bother to queue.
3) Vietnamese just know how to smile and laugh.
Vietnamese would smile and laugh when they are sad, angry, embarassed, puzzled, uneasy, shy, grieving, etc.. so laughter actually covers a lot of situations!! that just sounds too good wasn't it?? Yes, it is good if you were a tourist, you must think that Vietnamese are so friendly, they always laugh and smile. But it is actually a pain when you are working with them. They would laugh whenever you try to make a point, laugh during an important meeting, laugh during a crisis, laugh when you try to correct what's wrong, laugh whenever you point out their mistakes.. hell.. Vietnamese will laugh in many situations where Westerners, Chinese or other asians certainly not.
4) Vietnamese are very stubborn.
Being stubborn is perceived as more of a virtue in Vietnam. In History they were stubborn with the Americans, French and Chinese. The Vietnamese are rightly proud of their unparalleled record of resistance to foreign domination. As a foreigner, I've had a hard time giving orders to Vietnamese, they would just give me a smile or laugh (as mentioned above) and then simply just doesn't do what they've been told.
5) Vietnamese are very rude.
It would take me a long time to elaborate further on this. It is easier to say that based on my standard and I believe many others they are very rude. I should add being nosy too. It has something to do with how they were brought up. Being nosy among many other things are not considered as rude in their culture.
6) Saving face is everything.
Vietnamese will never admit that they've done anything wrong or they didn't know certain things simply just to save their face. They would never point up any mistakes or firing incapable person simply just to save the person's face. Things are different if you are a foreigner though. Everything is simply your fault and you have to be blamed for everything including mistakes done by the locals, as if you don't have any face to be saved.
It is quite unfair to just point out their ugliness (as if Malaysians doesn't have any; we have plenty too). I've got a few Vietnamese friends (some with the exception of the above trait) and a few elderly Vietnamese to whom I look up to and respect. There are a few trait in which I actually admire :
1) Most Vietnamese are hardworking.
If you were able to get past through their ego they are actually very hardworking and willing to do a lot of thing to improve themselves. I sometimes wish that Malaysians could be as hardworking and dilligent as them. We are actually too pampered and never undergone hardship as them to realise the need to thrive.
2) They still uphold the family values.
There are three pillars of Vietnamese Society, family, family and family!! Immediate family, extended family and projected family. My bosses would regularly enquire me regarding my family's health and life; that seldom happened in Malaysia. Our office is like a small family unit - there is no secret, everybody knows everything. Contributed also by the nosy trait which I've mentioned earlier. However, the point here is, Vietnamese families still have dinner together at night, children still lives with their parents even after working and marriage and for most Vietnamese they actually fear nothing and nobody except their parents.
3) Punctuality.
They are much much more punctual than Malaysians. If the meeting supposed to start at 8.30 it will start at 8.30. In Malaysia, if the meeting supposed to start at 8.30 it will actually started at 9.00, the so called Malaysian Time.
4) Smile.
Although it is really annoying to me, I still marvelled and baffled on how they could laugh and smile in every situation. To me, this is one of the mystery of Vietnam..
