For your very information, the inflation rate of Vietnam in April 2012 was 10.54%, which was perhaps unexpected by any economists. Well Vietnam is on its way to curbing inflation and making it a one-digit number by the end of this year. Congrats!

However, the life of ordinary people doesn't seem to be at ease. Most of the women selling at the "illegal" market, a space outside the state-owned market named Hoa Binh on Bui Huu Nghia Street, say they sell less and earn less this year. At times they have to sell at this market in the morning and afternoon, and move to another market in the evening to earn some extra pennies for their children. At the aformentioned "illegal" market, those women have to run away if the local police come.

This year the size of many Vietnamese families has increased, not because they're having any more kids, but because their children, adults working full-time somewhere, have moved back home because renting a room near their workplace has become unaffordable. Lots of parents are trying to cut the families' expenses by maintaining the same amount of food but choosing less costly ingredients and thus making less delicious meals.

What is highly interesting is that in a world dominated by market-based solutions, people are not going to the market anymore. According to the female sellers at Hoa Binh Market, only those who are poor and who're struggling to make ends meet would go to the market, buy food and cook for themselves. Rich people, instead, would go to the supermarket. And sometimes, supermarkets get into the competition against traditional/wet markets by offering lower prices and making those women at Hoa Binh Market điêu đứng. Thus, this is an irony, one which is so powerful that you can cry and laugh at the same time. In a market economy, we think about competition, expensive pieces of land, banks, consumer behavior, franchise and all that. But when does a market strategist, sitting somewhere on level 15 of an office building in District 1, spend a moment thinking about that very market? those very women? this non-supermarket way of life?

Reflected by those women is the idea that education means everything. Thus, next time when you hear people talk about Vietnam's hunger for education, it's just a little tiny bit likely that they mean knowledge. Education is, to them, more about getting a good job, and having themselves spared from sitting in a corner of that market made dirty by a one-hour rain on a Wednesday night just to see the street being deserted and sometimes filled by several customers, who have come because the supermarket has been closed.

Besides, they reason that rich Vietnamese people have gone abroad to pursue their chosen ends. If something goes wrong, a lot more rich Vietnamese would fly to a foreign country, leaving the poor struggle and fight for the country since they have no way out. For the same kind of labor, an average Vietnamese inside Vietnam would earn less than his counterpart in, say, Australia, because... that's Vietnam. The Vietnamese children who went overseas in the 1990s are now finding ways to get their parents out of Vietnam, too. Let's imagine how Vietnam would look like whey they're all gone.

Thinking about what Vietnam would be like if he was still alive. Happy birthday, Bac Ho. HCMC, 19 May 2012.

For a refreshing day, I'd like to report on some of the points I've learned about charity and beyond. Will never forget Dana Doan and the LIN Center for Community Development, respectively my first role model and first home away from home.

1. CHARITY:
   • 1a. Pity.
   • 1b. Short-term.
   • 1c. Above/Under.
   • 1d. Help people.
   • 1e. One-time impact.
2. DEVELOPMENT:
   • 2a. Respect.
   • 2b. Long-term.
   • 2c. Equal.
   • 2d. Empower people.
   • 2e. Sustainable impact.

Anh Son, currently LIN's deputy director, had an invention: Since there's no Vietnamese word for "philanthropy," let's say "philanthropy" is a kind of "charity for development." Hence "Tu thien Phat trien" as "Philanthropy." 

Don't you have a better idea on how to translate PHILANTHROPY into Vietnamese?

I've been a lucky person since 1990 as I barely know the wars and have instead got access to a wealth of opportunities, plus been surrounded by very ethical people.

Today I'm a bit luckier, as it's is the 30th of April, our country's Reunification Day. I came across an excellent article about this public holiday and its implications for the Vietnamese, young and old, on the BBC Vietnamese website.

To many of you, going to school and traveling on the roads you do are basic rights. There's been a growing discourse on human rigths in Vietnam and many organizations, especially the ones in Hanoi, have taken the rights-based approach. However, let me, a Vietnamese, tell you this: Remember, in a poor country like ours, going to school and traveling on the roads we do are still a privilege, rather than a right. And thus, I'd like to express my gratitude to all of those who came before us and who gave us a positive starting point, though we must constantly be alert to the injustice we're facing.

Below I'll translate Ve Dan Quyen & Dan Toc Nhan 30/4, written by Lawyer Le Quoc Quan. I guess the BBC has got an English version of this article for internal reporting, but I'd like to contribute a translation piece, given that we don't publicly have access to the translated writing by the BBC. No copyright infringement intended. Plus, I may have got lost in translation.

**********

ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE PEOPLE ON THE 30TH OF APRIL

Lawyer Le Quoc Quan

Written for the BBC, from Hanoi

Last updated: 10:22 GMT - Tue, 24 April 2012

My father breathed a sigh of relief when the tanks driven by his comrades from the North of Vietnam overflowed into the Independence Palace.

The reunification of the country made him happy because it meant the war had ended and those brothers had stopped shooting each other. In particular, he could finally remove a terrible burden from his shoulders, one that was characterized by the following saying, "5 years, 10 years, 20 years or even more..."

Belief in victory

Like almost all Northern Vietnamese people at the moment, my father thought that the fight for independence was justified in and of itself, and it could last forever. The earlier the victory would come, the better it would be; nonetheless, if it had not come at all, they would still be going straight into it and fighting. Being born into the world, growing up, getting mature and moving to the South for the war was all like a fate.

Everyone focused on one single thing, i.e. "independence for the people." Only such independence mattered, and it was in reaching the level of "liberation" that the people could have everything. The war then was painted with a religious color, when it hung onto a fundemental belief and when all the individuals involved tortured themselves to gain peace. When a person sacrificed and felt much in pain, he thought he was a good person in the hope that when the country was reunited, all would live in harmony.

Thanks to this belief, the victory came earlier than the communists had expected. The beginning of the 1975 Spring Offensive involved only small attacks, or minor tests; yet the victory came surprisingly quick and in an easy way, leading to the remarkable day of 30/4/1975.

The reality of Vietnam today

It is 37 years since that historic day, and our farmers are still doing strenuous work every day.Now they are out there growing rice and they see, when standing up straight to wipe the sweat off their faces, the land going away from them. The land has been "stolen" and sold at a price that is a thousand times as much its intrinsic value. Thus, we have Mr. Vuon's "bomb." We witness Van Giang's villagers use all kinds of farming tools to get back their land.

The country has been filled with social unrest and anxiety. After a commercial reform was a wave of people escaping from their homeland, followed by many years of hunger under the subsidiary economy. Since the country shied away from Socialism, it has become physically full but soulless. A large number of people's character has been torn. They can be gentle and moral at this time, but they will act sinfully at other times.

It is 37 years since that historic day, and plenty of business leaders nowadays still feel terrified, running around not knowing how to make it transparent or to live according to their conscience.

Bribery brings one business contracts, which is a habit, a common practice and something that is acknowledged outside the meeting room. It is discussed at secret parties, known to be wrong but had to be done.

The difference between gangsters and government officials is that the former does not wear fake masks of morality. Meanwhile, numberous officials have to be two-faced and work well on both of the fronts. They have to be a member of both the local mafia and authority, surviving using various means that are complicated and dangerous.

Sometimes they wear the mask of communists lecturing on morality and integrity. Sometimes they feel angry, take off their mask and show up their capitalistic face, challenging millions of impverished farmers.

The political double standard has created evil values, which make it hard to position anyone. There are a lot of people who own high social status and tremendous wealth, but possess innocent stupidity.

They are a mix of a "playboy" and a nobble authority, preaching empty theories and having no responsibilities on the political stage. They are, however, super-practical and extremely responsible when it comes to family issues or whatever is related to their interest group.

Despite all this, it is worth appreciating that after 37 years, there have been increasingly a number of people fighting for a better Vietnam, although they have publicly or privately gone through all the difficulties, imprisonment, loneliness and prejudice. So what are the lessons we can learn from them?

Fighting for human rights

Perhaps the first lesson is we must be absolutely clear that fighting for human and universal rights is an eternal struggle. We must be constantly aware that one's character is equality.

Human rights are of everyone and for everyone. A government must be there to make sure that all of those rights are exercised, not to abandon them; therefore, whenever and wherever people are deprived of democracy or human rights, there must be struggles.

Fighting for democracy and other human rights, which are activated when a human being is born and which exist even when that person has passed away, is different from the concept of "liberation" that came in 1975. The struggle for rights is a process which asks that every natural right be given back to the people, including the poorest and the richest, the uneducated and the intellectual, and the rural and the urban; it also goes beyond national borders.

As a result, the struggle for human rights is an eternal one. Maybe the first step is to fight for a mechanism that guarantees respect and is able to help citizens exercise their rights.

The endeavor can last for "5 years, 10 years, 20 years or even more," but we must finally reach there. The values which have been acknowledged and acted upon by the world must be embraced by in Vietnam. We cannot live in a way which is different from that of the civilized society.

The second lesson lies in the natural fact that "robbing the authority" is the job of the government/state; whereas, "claiming back the authority" is the job of the people. History has proved that the evolution of us, human beings, is an on-going struggle between "robbing" and "claiming back."

Every time it happens, the people will achieve more rights.

Thomas Jefferson said, "God forbid we should ever be twenty years without [such] a rebellion." The government of the USA, since the country was founded, has favored the idea of the people fighting against those in power because it understands that power abuse is inevitable. That the people fight and claim back their authority is always supportive of social development.

Besides, the trend of democracy is spreading around the world, and authoritarian regimes have become rare. We must remember the following proverb: "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst."

We must fight and the worst thing may be doing it until the end of our lives, or having our children and grandchildren continue the endeavor. At the same time though, we have to hope for the best, which will come in the near future.

Myanmar is an example of spectacular transformation in a short period of time. When clearly deciding that the authoritarian regime had to be replaced by democracy and freedom, the country's activists were relieved and could feel a life of peace.

Thus, the greatest, most important and most decisive lesson is that we must have a strong belief in the ultimate victory of the fight for human rights and for a progressive Vietnam.

As Ho Chi Minh decisively taught the Northern Vietnamese to trust that Vietnam would win in the end, activists today must fundamentally uphold justice, truth, democracy and human rights if they are to gain more strength.

When we are aware of the people's path and that of human beings, we can learn from those who came before us, to bring about a revolution. Ho Chi Minh, with France's protection, established military bases and used weapons to overthrow the feudal system using the violent method.

Contrarily, today we should apply the non-violent method, using the people's trust as "military bases," in order to fight against the backward, dictatorial and corrupt, which are preventing Vietnam from making progress.

If we collectively learn and get committed to doing this, Vietnam will definitely become as prosperous as South Korea or Japan without having to go through another 37 years. 

This article reflects the viewpoints of the author, who is a lawyer fighting for democracy living in Hanoi.

Time and again we've heard things like, "You can use viral marketing." It's like a hype. Much of the discussion on viral marketing has all but examples. Luckily, Thales Teixeira proposed five so-called principles one needs to take into consideration if a viral ad is to be expected.

• Brand pulsing: 

Advertising these days needs to be a little bit more sophisticated. Make your logo appear naturally several times, each with a height, during an ad instead of giving it an overwhelming presence. Wearing a dazzlingly bright red shirt 24/24 like Dr. Tran Qui Thanh to promote the herbal tea branded "Dr. Thanh" is a not brand pulsing, but is a very bad practice.

• Emotional roller coaster:

Take the audience on a journey of ups and downs. An entirely exciting or sad ad won't go viral.

• Targeting those who are likely to share:

So send your ad to extroverts and those who are ego-centric because they'll forward it to their friends, given that they're easily excited or want to be seen as being trendy. Here the advertisers don't necessarily target those who are likely to buy their products. The idea is, instead, targeting the ones who like to share advertising pieces so that your TVC will go viral. Is it a waste of money when you target people who don't belong to your market? No. Remember, viral marketing is viral marketing because it doesn't cost you much in the first place.

• Joy and surprise right from the beginning:

"Save the best for last" doesn't work anymore. Surprise the consumers right at the beginning of the ad, but, as already said, give them a roller coaster, instead of making them excited, excited and excited during that one minute. 

• Impressing, not shocking:

People are less motivated to mass-forward a link to an explicitly sensual TVC than a funny one.

According to Teixeira, the following advertisement by Evian, with more than 55 million views, has all of the aforementioned elements. Enjoy!

Check out the March 2012 issue of HBR if you want to read Teixeira's full article.

It was raining cats and dogs. Inside a theater of Lotte Mart, District 7, there was one moviegoer. Then a couple came. Several others entered the room. Finally there were less than ten people, ready to watch Touch (2011), a film by Minh Duc Nguyen, a rather young Vietnamese-American.

A taste of TEDxMekong 2011

Last year we had a massive success, as the live inaugural event of TEDxMekong, taking place on 18 August, delivered what it'd promised, i.e. Ideas Worth Spreading. Though the technical quality of the videos is not up to our expectations (well we're improving this year), the speakers truly made up an all-star team.

Mdm Ton Nu Thi Ninh's is my favorite, though I might be a little biased, as always. In this talk, she argues powerfully how a nation's brand filters down to corporations and individuals, and how personal branding can make an impact on larger scales. Vietnam's contemporary image, she proudly proposes - though it might sound strange, is humanity and compassion - a quality which seems inherent in the Vietnamese people as demonstrated through the course of long wars and into peace and development. Writing all this, I think about my mother; there you see humanity and compassion.

We themed it Entrepreneurship in Vietnam, but I guess each went beyond business ideas. I hope the 400 applicants who followed us, and those 100 attendees who interacted with us had a rewarding experience.

Take a deep breath. I'm going to say it out loud, "Thank You." Our gratitude goes to the advisors, speakers, sponsors, supporters and friends, however late it is.

TEDxMekong 2011 coming

We took some time to recuperate. And now we're back, full of energy. 

There are a few positions that need to be filled. I hope talented people will come and volunteer to help us out, as many have just done.

Among this year's managers, Minh gave me the greatest thrill. I didn't believe that he came back and agreed to become our communication manager (!). Given his creativity, excellent written skills, humility, deep love for Vietnam and unusual dedication, I believe you'll see "communication wonders" from us. Minh's interested in so many areas that I no longer know how to call him. A violinist? A writer? A religion student? I made a transition from being a person who believed in one thing and one thing only, to someone who's lingered on different jobs, a few projects and overall no specialty. Minh made me rethink a little bit. Let me repeat what he said:

"If you have one foot in one boat and another foot in another boat, you'll never go anywhere." Of course, everybody has to choose what is right for them [...], but I think there's a lot of depth in each [fixed set of values] and if a person doesn't take the time to practice and study one deeply, and only study many on the surface level, that person will miss something and they won't know what they're missing. They will think they understand, but won't truly understand.

I don't totally agree with Minh and to me, there's no need to be comitteed to anything forever. However, I think it's important to try one specific thing out and learn it in depth. Even when we've studied everything about it and realized it's simply false, we can leave it behind and yet be proud of the deep learning process.

Oh oh I digressed. Back to our upcoming event, which will again take place in August, there are a few questions.

1. Language: Vietnamese or English? Or both? If we choose to make it bilingual, we'll have to hire a skilled translator and set up the venue with the right equipment. We don't have any problem with putting more effort into it. However, having a larger budget is something that scares me and perhaps the whole organizing committee. Last year we made it free to the attendees, so we don't want to charge any fees this year. Quality talks like ours should be available to all, regardless of their economic background.
2. Audience vs. Theme: From a marketing perspective, it's ultimately important for us to have a well-defined target audience before doing anything. However, TED's premise is to promote "Ideas Worth Spreading," instead of catering to any small group of people. Do you think we should define a target audience first and decide on a theme appealing to them thereby? Or should we just reverse the process?
3. Possible themes: We've already given lots of thought to what should be our theme this year. Lots on our plate at the moment. The trick is we're not sure what would work best for you, for Vietnam and for the GMS at large. If you're interested in contributing something small and yet meaningful to TEDxMekong, I'd love it if you could give me a comment here, or email contact@tedxmekong.com, or give me a message at vtq.giao@gmail.com. In thinking about a theme, you should:    

• take the keyword as "Vietnam" (we'll only expand our focus in the years to come);
• make it general (e.g. "Untold stories");
• give a short rationale; 
• and let us know a bit about the possible speakers.

Last but not least, if you're ready to come on board for this year's project, please nominate yourself! Below is our "hardware" at the moment: 

Trong sân trường em có một cây phượng lác đác trổ bông, hơn tháng nữa hoa phượng bắt đầu nở rộ, thế là "Mùa hè sắp đến!"

Cây cao hơn mười mét, tán rất rộng. Thân cây to một người ôm không xuể, da sần sùi và có những bướu to rải rác ở thân cây. Cành phượng to và dài như tay của chú vượn khổng lồ.

Lá phượng nhỏ bé như lá me, mỗi đêm trăng thanh gió mát thì ánh trăng xuyên qua kẽ lá như muôn ngàn con đom đóm lập lòe.

Hoa phượng là loài hoa đẹp nhất trong tuổi học trò. Hoa đậu từng chùm, mỗi chùng chừng bốn mươi, năm mươi bông hoa, hoa có năm cánh, nhưng chỉ có bốn cánh đỏ thắm còn cánh kia thì đỏ lấm tấm trắng giống như hoa lan hồ điệp. Nhị hoa giống như nhị của hoa mai nhưng to hơn.

Khi vào những ngày hè, thời tiết thất thường có mưa, có nắng. Khi nắng hoa phượng đỏ rực hòa với ánh nắng chói chang, khi mưa màu đỏ của hoa phượng không rực rỡ nữa mà lại tươi diệu, nhẹ nhàng. Mưa tạnh, các cánh hoa, nhị hoa và đài hoa rơi xuống, chúng em lấy để ép bướm và cẩn thận ghi lên dòng chữ: "Kỉ niệm học trò lớp bốn Bốn."

Hoa rơi hết thì trái bắt đầu. Ban đầu, trái màu xanh, nhỏ bằng ngón út em, khi già trái màu đen, dẹp và dài như cây thước kẻ. Vào ngày có gió to, thì gió làm hai mảnh vỏ đen tách ra nên hạt rơi lã chã xuống đất. Khi mưa rơi các hạt ấy và sau này sẽ có cây phượng mới.

"Mỗi năm đến hè lòng man mác buồn..." - câu ca vẫn văng vẳng đâu đây. Tuy em chưa biết buồn thật sự, nhưng khi nghe em thấy có cái gì đó vương vương vấn vấn...

Trúc Nhã (10 tuổi). Ngày 23/03/2012. 

Last week was interesting because I managed to finish many jobs... on time. The highlight of it all, however, was attending a workshop on leadership by the Center for Social Initiatives Promotion (CSIP), a group of (super)women dedicated to promoting Social Entrepreneurship (SE) in the country.

I came to 168 Hai Ba Trung street at 8:00 AM (sharp) last Wednesday, ready to translate what the trainers would say into English, as my job was to provide live translation for Lain (from Bloom Microventures) and for Dana (from LIN). Opening the day was Nguyen Manh Hung, currently the CEO of Thaihabooks. After all the stories, lessons, advice and applauses, what impressed me the most was his energy. It's true that without energy, we cannot do anything. Hung volunteered to train the fellows who last year won CSIP's Social Entrepreneurs Support Program, which was a very nice act given that he can earn thousands of dollars by doing professional training in a matter of days.

THẦY HÙNG

Hung said we human beings are living on Earth because we hạ giới, saying goodbye to a place called Heaven and coming into this world. Thus, we're not normal and each of us is a wonder of the world. It felt upbeat hearing those words although we all understood it was meant to bring more fun to the workshop. He encouraged social entrepreneurs to focus on their strengths, and in case one's strenghts are different from his interests, then go for the interests. Personally I would argue against Hung because there were times when I pursued my interests just to find failures and myself failing. If going for our interests was that easy, I would be an environmentalist now. The reality is I know very little about climate change and have given up on tackling this issue. Hung's argument, quite unexpectedly, was that if we follow our dreams, we'll improve our capacities thereby. The cliche is it depends. You choose. To me, choosing what to do goes far beyond interest and strength; it also involves one's perceived duty and our society's demand. It's a real challenge to align those four domains, again - strength, interest, duy and demand. But once you've found that niche, you're on top of the world. Congrats. I used to criticize those who kept doing what they did best and avoided trying out new areas. However, now I must say that I have no rights to give criticisms as such because knowing our strengths is not easy and once you've identified it, just hang in there.

We also discussed mindset. By the end of his part of training, Hung told a story in which a mouse was transformed into a cat, then a tiger and finally a human being, who could never get rid of fearing the neighboring kitty. The reason? The mouse-turned-human being kept thinking that he was a mouse and had the mindset of a mouse, and thus even a gentle kitty scared him to death. The trend is change. Change. I don't favor change because I think I'm already good. I indeed wish I could keep being who I am today with all the ideals, love and commitments. However, the point upon which I agree with Hung is that changing our mindset is difficult (right, when I think I'm good, I cannot just change and say I am bad). Changing one's appearance, putting on a skirt, wearing high heels and calling one leader doesn't make him a new person. Talking again about mindset, Hung was sure that we're what we believe. There were many times when he asked the participants, "Who is rich? Who is healthy? Who is sucessful?" If one wants to be successful, according to Hung, he must think he is successful. And what's more, he must surround himself with successful individuals. I don't know how it works regarding success, but I agree if we wish to be ethical, we should be surrounded by people of ethics.

Another point raised during Hung's lecture was that Vietnamese people are good at starting things, not following through or ending them nicely. I find it intriguing and true. Why is that? Because we're not specific enough. Because we're not detailed either. Lots of my friends are proud because they can see the big pictures. "Không thực tế mà còn thực dụng," said my friend Trang. I don't think one can see a big picture without knowing the details. Perhaps we can take care of the big pictures without getting our hands on the details; however, understanding the details is necessary. Thus, as a summary, Hung reminded everyone to be Cụ Tỉ - Cụ thể and Tỉ mỉ. 

Further, we talked about Leadership and Management. An ideal social entrepreneur, as Hung believed, would be both a leader and a manager. These days it's fashionable to be leaders. But I always find managers more pleasant. After our short-lived love with scientific management, the human resources school makes managers more loving and what's more, well-organized. When I think of managers, I think of people like anh Nam, those that make you feel trust and intelligence. Anyhow, back to Hung's lecture. He said one can be a manager and a leader, but not at the same time. Two roles can live within an individual, but he must be aware which role he's taking at a time. One cannot use a manager's role to solve a management-related problem. 

Moving on, we studied leadership in social enterprises with Ly Truong Chien from Tri Tri Corporation. He is a man of wordplay and I was at times, many times I mean, speechless because of him. Dana and Lain suffered as I was unable to translate several of Chien's ideas. Though the workshop was meant to serve social entrepreneurs, we learned about leadership in general because apparently, there was no leadership model for social entrepreneurs. While Hung encouraged us to focus on our stregths, Chien said we shouldn't forget our weaknesses. And as part of a discussion between Dana and Chien, he said if one feels he's a leader and is not good at management, then he can collaborate with a manager to oversee an enterprise. During the process, the leader and the manager can learn from each other, improving their weak points thereby. 

THẦY CHIẾN

I remember few ideas from Chien's lectures (he worked with us on both Wednesday and Thursday) basically because he was spontaneous. I couldn't "connect the dots" and unfortunately such a disconnection was transferred to those foreign fellows - Lain and Dana. He impressed us, however, when he showed many emotional videos, after playing one that said 60% of Vietnamese enterprises went bankrupt in 2011. There was one that particularly made us cry. Aging, indifference, poverty - and - sharing. In a world full of problems, can social entrepreneurs help?

On Wednesday's evening, we met with Vi from Saigon Paper Corp. I felt he was the best speaker of all, sharing his very own experience. When asked if entrepreneurs would have to sacrifice their family, he said, "Yes," in a frank manner. Then he added, "A man's sacrifice is one, while a woman's is twice as much." I'm lucky because I'm not a believer of the market. In our world, one that's filled with changes and variables, one can have a happy life only when he has power over its only constant - money. Time and Money - they are the rare constants left in our volatile world. I knew. I know. But I don't live by any obsession with market-based solutions. There are better ways.

CHÚ VỊ

Also worth remembering from his talk is that entrepreneurs don't necessarily know all the technical parts of an industry and we're not "meant" to tie ourselves to any area. Vi himself knew nothing about paper when he started out his enterprise. An entrepreneur sees opportunities everywhere and it only matters when he decides to seize one.

The other night we were speaking with a monk at KOTO, a beautiful place full of friendly staff. He's got a PhD in Buddhism. He mentioned the early life of the Buddha, which I knew a little bit about and which made it easy to translate his words. The Buddha was a son of a king in India and during his early days, he lived with delicious food and beautiful girls - a luxurious way of life. One day he went out of the palace and saw a dying man, a corpse and a sick person. He realized by then that we all would age, get sick and die. He also saw a man mediating on the road. By the time he was thirty-five years old, the Buddha left his wife and child behind, going for a religious life. He practiced an ascetic life. He later saw a person fixing what I could call a guitar. Either too tight or too loose, the strings wouldn't work. So the Buddha knew that neither his luxurious life back in the palace or the ascetic one was right. He instead chose the middle way and it worked. Eat enough. Drink enough. To reach nirvana. Lain's fiancee joined the discussion and asked in a world characterized by excessive greed and poverty, how we could define "enough" because "enough" for A may mean "too much" or "too little" for B. The Buddhist monk, with endearing cheer, said, "If you think it's enough for you yourself, then it's enough. It's when things are enough not only for you but also for all people around." I was happy with his answer.

Before that, on Thursday's moring, we had a few case studies. The first one came from Uy and Cong, operating the Song Pho Applied Psychology Center. One of their projects at the moment has to do with treating young aldults addicted to the Internet. While we started out defining their problem as not effectively communicating their mission with the stakeholders, we then realized the Center had a big problem with finance, plus Cong and Uy hadn't spent enough time on the project although they're very passionate about what they've been doing. Currently it's a nonprofit project and will be maintained thanks to the profits generated from other services provided by the Center. Obviously they're under-paying their staff, all professionals having education in psychology and so they're not committed to the Center's mission. Dana suggested that commucating one mission is not a matter of saying it succinctly, but spending quality time with the staff and repeating the mission occasionally. As for finance, Lain mentioned that they could charge rich clients a high fee and then have a sliding scale for or cross-subsidize low-income clients. Lain also encouraged Cong and Uy to be confident about their services because they are experts in psychology and they have the will to help. The two men from the Song Pho Applied Psychology Center were a bit hesitant, as they wanted to make the services available to everyone. They're a social enterprise. The purpose of having a social enterprise is to make quality services affordable to a wide range of people, something that the market is not capable of doing. The argument of Lain and Nguyen Hai Nam, an advisor to CSIP, is that in order for a social enterprise to survive, we must first be an entrepreneur.

The other case study our group had came from the Philanthropic Advisory Services initative under the LIN Center for Community Development. I heard a lot of confusing ideas. One was from Tu, Head of VietPictures. He said approaching a client is not a matter of presenting our services. We must talk with potential clients and curstomize what we have, according to Tu. Nam disagreed, bringing up his own business, a chain of restaurants named Quan Nem. Quan Nem offers only two dishes (two yummy ones indeed) because if they put another item on their menu, they would need new cooks with more skills.

QUÁN NEM CỦA CHÚ NAM

What I do agree with Nam is that it's high time we came out there and tested our ideas, instead of making calculating assumptions and feel it's too late. The cost of inaction is going to be higher than making mistakes, okay?

Tired, I wondered how those three women from CSIP - Chi, Lan and Oanh - could come a long way from Hanoi to Saigon and organize such a series of events at such a low cost. Energy - that's what they had. I admire their way of thrif. That's what we Southerners must learn from Hanoians. Though CSIP earns four dollars for every dollar it gives away to social entrepreneurs, they still strive to save costs. You never know how rainy days, just like today, might come. 

On Friday, we had a networking event called Linkage for Change. While most of us were well into SE, many were not. Thus, at the beginning of the event, there were three questions that two groups of attendees must answer.

The first one was, "Social enterprises are socially responsible enterprises. True or False?" CSIP's answer was "False." This is debatable because to me, an enterprise passionate about its mission must have fulfilled its social responsibilities as a corporate citizen.

The second question was, "A not-for-profit organization can be a social enterprise. True or False?" Of course we knew it was false, but a group of students thought not-for-profit organizations coudn't act as social enterprises.

Finally we had, "Business development is not a fundamental goal of social enterprises. True or False?" CSIP's answer was "False." It's again debatable because according to Thanh from FPT's Board of Directors, social enterprises will gradually scale up their efforts and getting new clients is one of the approaches to maximize one's impacts. Oanh, Director of CSIP, said something different, "A social enteprise must focus on its services and products to serve a well-defined market and thus business development is not its main concern." 

I came home on Friday night, exhausted and had a good sleep. In my dream, I thought all the "ideologists" I'd been with, like the trainers I'd met during the week and the book authors I'd admired, were male. Whereas, the very practical people I'd worked with, the directors, were female. Similar to my father and mother. As their daughter, I have ambitions and a dash of practicality. 

PS: If you wish to learn about the state of SE in Vietnam, please check out this Directory. At the moment there are 195 social enterprises throughout Vietnam, as documented by CSIP. Such an impressive number. Opportunities for researching into Vietnamese SE coming up.

As I needed to have an interview with a woman from the HCMC Women's Union, I ran to its headquarters at 1:00 PM today. It was super hot. My bike and I were seemingly traveling in a desert right in the middle of Saigon. When I arrived at 32 Tran Quoc Thao street, district 3, I came across another desert because the office building was under construction and no officials of the Union were to be found. To be sure, I asked a man who was walking around the area to see if I was at the right place. He said, smiling, "Yeah, this used to be the office of the HCMC Women's Union. But they're temporarily somewhere else and their building is being renovated."

A little bit upset, I headed home, before which the man had given me this hint, "Oh, why don't you come to the Women Museum? Just go straight along this street and turn left to Ngo Thoi Nhiem street, then turn left again and you'll see the Museum right at the corner of Vo Thi Sau and Le Quy Don. See?"

I said, "Yes," feeling upbeat though I didn't know why I should do what the man had just told me. I finally came to 202 Vo Thi Sau street, ward 7, district 3. I put my bike outside the main building, giving the security officer "just" (ah, his word) VND 2,000 and entered the room on the first floor. Then the second floor. The third floor. So it was the Southern Women Museum, full of statues, colorful costumes, black-and-white photos and grand paintings. I couldn't digest their meaning as there was no tour guide to speak to. I nearly forgot why I came here in the first place. When I was going downstairs, I asked a female officer selling the Museum's souvernirs if she knew anything about the HCMC Women's Union and gender issues in the city. She happily referred me to 6 Dong Son street, Tan Binh district, the new office of the Union. I wished to hug her and give her a kiss, but didn't dare to do so. I simply thanked her a great deal and traveled straight to Tan Binh district.

It was again super hot. I realized there was only VND 500 left in my pocket. I couldn't buy a bottle of tea. Not even trà đá. Thirsty, I ran as fast as possible, hoping that someone at the office would offer me some water.

There were no drinks. The HCMC Women's Union's office was closed, as all of the staff had traveled to Hanoi for a national conference. I managed to meet with the receptionist, who hinted that I should interview a government official from another organization in the city, who might not have to attend the one-week conference in the North and who might be more knowledgeable than herself about gender issues. 

My job didn't end there. I said goodbye to the remaining people at the office of the Union and hopped towards home, determined to call all of my contacts who may help me to find an appropriate organization working on gender issues in the city.

Saigon is actually a small city, making it apparently easy to travel from place to place. However, given its heavy traffic, passing every kilometer takes time. All that was time-consuming. If I had five days like this every week, I would be depressed. 

Yet it's important to go out, know several places and keep wondering about the city. I'm amazed by how proactive people in Saigon can be. They always have something for us, regardless. I didn't ask about the Southern Women Museum, but the man on Tran Quoc Thao street directed me to the Museum because he could guess I was working on gender issues and given that he didn't know the new office of the HCMC Women's Union, he hinted at a substitute. They never stand still. They don't give up. They'll refer us to this place or that person until we get our job done. Very proactive, aren't they? Everyone is proactive in one way or another, so it was a generic statement to make. Nonetheless, the level of proactiveness among people living in a city, a really busy one, is much higher. 

It is Saigon. It's dynamic. It's proactive. It doesn't give up on us or on itself. But being too quick-thinking makes us less nice. When I was in Vinh Long, my friend loved me because I was highly patient. I'm no more, and have instead, since I came to Saigon, got frustrated easily. Saigon's heat and traffic are the two contributing factors. I hope it will change. If there was one immediate wish for the city, I would wish that we would crash each other less often, and if there was a crash and we were still conscious, we would stand up and ask, "Are you OK?" instead of shouting, using swear words and looking at each other with half an eye (terrible?). 

In any event, I hope you'll continue to be proactive, resilient and dynamic, and become mature, healthy and nice, dear Saigon.

Tomorrow is another day in the city. I'll meet many proactive individuals, as long as I go out. Left - Right. On my motorbike. 

Last Wednesday evening (22 Feb) was amazing not necesarily because I discovered something great. We went to the third Networking for a Cause event by the LIN Center and spent some quality time together.

I was so happy when I saw my beloved lecturers there, including Lukas, Jade, Mai Anh and Melanie all sitting in a room located on the fifth floor of Hoa Sen University, whose building on Tan Viet looks like a hotel. Jade was as lovely as usual. Mai Anh promised interesting assessment taks through which she would guide me this semester. Lukas joked that he felt as if being a grandpa seeing me in the first class we had together (Introduction to Advertising). And, Melanie still remembered me when I was a student in her Complementary Skills for Communicators class.

Though I got a little carried away when my friends were around, I managed to grasp several interesting points from the panel discussion, whose topic was The Case for Corporate Community Investment. 

"Can companies benefit from investing in the communities where they operate?" - you may ask. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Viet, a coordinator from CARE International in Vietnam, gave a confident "Yes" to this question, showing that a company would lower its risks of lacking input if they were to invest in capacity building for local farmers - their main sources of supply.

Throughout the evening, Nghia, my friend, asked me several questions about community development. Yesterday he let me know, "There are now two more words in my vocabulary, including 'NGO' and 'sustainability'." Of course as a friend of his and a person excited about community development, I was delighted.

I also won Duy's trust and had him come along. The good thing about friends is they tend to give out trust easily without asking why. "It's going to be a great event for three of us" was what I briefly told him and Duy agreed to join. When Duy passed on my question to the panel, he laughed a little, appearing as if mine was a silly question, "Why do you have to ask about enterprises and profits? If it was not for profit, why would anyone bother to establish an enterprise?"

I was fine with his attitude actually, keeping in mind that Duy's biggest concern in life is biomedical engineering, not money or community. I finally got a response from one member of the panel.

Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc Trai, former CEO of Pepsico Southeast Asia, said, "It's a company's profit that's its most fundamental responsiblity. However, when having to choose between profit and social responsibility, there are companies which put the profit motive in the second place. Sadly though, there are not many companies choosing this path."

Along the way, I made sure that the concepts like CSR and NGO were clear to Duy, making him feel as if he was in a non-formal class. But I enjoy doing that, because it's best to have a networked society where everyone knows a little bit about what others are doing, instead of solely working in their area and getting alienated from the rest. I'll be happy if Nghia teaches me some IT skills and Duy takes me to a conference on Sleep Therapy, though I might need their assistance in making sense of technical terms.

The best thing of all, perhaps, was that I met anh Tuan plus his girlfriend. It was the first time we'd ever seen each other after being in and out of touch for ten years! While the panel members were responding to the audience's questions, anh Tuan asked me whether I would accept it if Vedan ran massive CSR programs after being found to kill the Thi Vai river. I said "Yes" because, "It's better than doing nothing. Besides, slogans are many and actions are few, so if someone has the ability to make a positive impact, despite his past wrongs, we should encourage him to do it. It's like being tolerant and supportive when your child has made a mistake."

Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc Trai said something similar, "We should be less strict on enterprises, especially those in developing countries. They're all in a process of experimenting, learning and improving along the way. Though companies cannot help to resolve all social problems, they should be supported when contributing to the welfare of the society, as long as they have the will."

And you know, it made me remember a saying by Mother Teresa: We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

Before we headed for a small party and started networking with about one hundred faces, strange or familiar but all lovely, I saw anh Son, chi Truc, Dana, her husband and Ly, thinking, "Wow. They're all here. My family is safe." I met a few RMIT fellows as well, feeling truly lucky because I'd been surrounded by very sincere and ethical communities, those always encouring their students and peers to work towards the common good, while not forgetting the practical and financial aspects of all projects.