WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.066 (Music Playing) 00:00:11.133 --> 00:00:16.123 (Applause) 00:00:16.932 --> 00:00:20.371 Hello, from Vietnam to the world, and to 00:00:20.402 --> 00:00:22.790 the University of the Pacific, 00:00:22.790 --> 00:00:26.252 here at Stockton, California. 00:00:26.302 --> 00:00:28.732 I was born in Vietnam, and grew up in 00:00:28.842 --> 00:00:32.101 Vietnam, and I lived many years in Europe. 00:00:32.188 --> 00:00:37.128 I came back home during the war. I've been 00:00:37.201 --> 00:00:40.713 a teacher, a diplomat, an elected 00:00:40.755 --> 00:00:43.405 representative, and today, I'm a 00:00:43.421 --> 00:00:46.941 social, cultural, and educational 00:00:46.973 --> 00:00:51.333 entrepreneur. I define myself as 00:00:51.362 --> 00:00:55.772 passionately Vietnamese, creatively 00:00:55.805 --> 00:01:01.195 individual, and thoughtfully global. 00:01:01.255 --> 00:01:06.005 In a sense, Vietnam's journey is my 00:01:06.035 --> 00:01:10.675 journey. Its striving to its place 00:01:10.741 --> 00:01:15.811 into the sun, and how I relate to it. 00:01:15.846 --> 00:01:19.966 How I contribute and impact on it 00:01:20.078 --> 00:01:23.138 moves me and makes me. 00:01:23.195 --> 00:01:26.935 In this intertwined journey, I have 00:01:27.011 --> 00:01:30.621 come to the conclusion that the more 00:01:30.676 --> 00:01:34.676 globalised our world becomes, the more we 00:01:34.701 --> 00:01:39.011 need to be anchored in our nationhood, 00:01:39.075 --> 00:01:43.075 our culture, and our specific, individual 00:01:43.105 --> 00:01:46.455 identity. We need to navigate this 00:01:46.483 --> 00:01:51.983 triangle of self, nation, and the world, 00:01:52.059 --> 00:01:55.579 creatively, in our own specific way, 00:01:55.612 --> 00:02:00.302 if we are to find peace and fulfillment. 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:04.439 Personally, I don't believe in the notion 00:02:04.485 --> 00:02:08.355 of the "pure" global citizen; one who 00:02:08.403 --> 00:02:11.713 would drift about, breeze in and out 00:02:11.763 --> 00:02:15.243 and above nations and communities, 00:02:15.283 --> 00:02:20.793 not belonging anywhere. Not- not 00:02:20.825 --> 00:02:23.655 committed to any constituency 00:02:23.693 --> 00:02:27.083 smaller than the broader world. 00:02:27.154 --> 00:02:30.607 But you and me know that for the 00:02:30.641 --> 00:02:33.651 foreseeable future, people will keep 00:02:33.691 --> 00:02:37.451 asking, "Where are you from?" Now, 00:02:37.499 --> 00:02:41.199 let's ask ourselves, "What are Vietnam 00:02:41.220 --> 00:02:45.420 and the Vietnamese known for?" 00:02:45.481 --> 00:02:49.481 I believe that the defining strength of 00:02:49.526 --> 00:02:53.526 the Vietnamese nation is our enduring 00:02:53.606 --> 00:02:57.467 humanity and identity through the worst 00:02:57.478 --> 00:03:03.308 ordeals and trials. 00:03:03.348 --> 00:03:09.368 Wars tend to dehumanise. Vietnam has 00:03:09.398 --> 00:03:13.398 suffered massive physical destruction 00:03:13.436 --> 00:03:19.563 and immense loss of life. Successive 00:03:19.643 --> 00:03:23.283 wars, however, have failed to dehumanise 00:03:23.298 --> 00:03:25.118 the Vietnamese. 00:03:25.181 --> 00:03:28.551 The Vietnamese Nation emerged from 00:03:28.561 --> 00:03:33.855 wars, retaining their humanity, unshackled 00:03:33.869 --> 00:03:38.209 by resentment and hatred, bent on 00:03:38.307 --> 00:03:41.987 moving on. You just have to look at faces 00:03:42.011 --> 00:03:46.011 of Vietnamese, old and young, soon after 00:03:46.031 --> 00:03:50.031 the war. Many visitors to Vietnam, 00:03:50.056 --> 00:03:54.056 including U.S. veterans who were stationed 00:03:54.087 --> 00:03:59.027 in Vietnam before, cannot feel but be 00:03:59.071 --> 00:04:02.411 surprised at the lack of resentment 00:04:02.441 --> 00:04:05.267 towards Americans, including from our own 00:04:05.291 --> 00:04:10.251 veterans. And the same attitude applied 00:04:10.266 --> 00:04:15.436 to French veterans. And this is the 00:04:15.465 --> 00:04:18.805 natural disposition of the Vietnamese 00:04:18.842 --> 00:04:22.842 people that could never be detected by any 00:04:22.888 --> 00:04:27.834 government. The Vietnamese fight hard for 00:04:27.852 --> 00:04:30.662 what they treasure above all. Which is 00:04:30.682 --> 00:04:34.682 their independence and identity. But once 00:04:34.753 --> 00:04:38.753 the fight is over, they look forward, and 00:04:38.777 --> 00:04:41.777 don't let resentment drive them. 00:04:41.802 --> 00:04:45.802 A Korean-American professor once observed 00:04:45.832 --> 00:04:47.912 to me: "I don't know how you, the 00:04:47.940 --> 00:04:50.680 Vietnamese do it - to reconcile so fast 00:04:50.702 --> 00:04:54.045 with the Americans. We - the Koreans, 00:04:54.052 --> 00:04:57.442 and the Chinese on the one hand, and 00:04:57.495 --> 00:05:00.515 the Japanese on the other - at times, 00:05:00.545 --> 00:05:04.825 the hurt and the anger of the past still 00:05:04.865 --> 00:05:10.635 haunts us. Those of you old enough may 00:05:10.655 --> 00:05:14.115 remember the tragedy of Mỹ Lai, 00:05:14.202 --> 00:05:17.295 a village in central Vietnam where, back 00:05:17.355 --> 00:05:21.915 in 1968, a U.S. platoon killed more 00:05:21.915 --> 00:05:25.588 than 500 unarmed villagers - 00:05:25.645 --> 00:05:27.805 all of them women, 00:05:27.838 --> 00:05:32.339 children, and old men. But on that fateful 00:05:32.355 --> 00:05:36.851 day, three U.S. soldiers on a helicopter 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:40.870 happened to fly into the area, and they 00:05:40.885 --> 00:05:44.885 took it upon themselves to save two young 00:05:44.909 --> 00:05:47.849 villagers - two young women - by whisking 00:05:47.890 --> 00:05:52.196 them away to safety. There is a 00:05:52.260 --> 00:05:54.230 documentary by filmmaker 00:05:54.260 --> 00:05:57.710 Trần Văn Thủy, called "The Sound of Violin 00:05:57.730 --> 00:06:01.580 in Mỹ Lai". It shows the return to Mỹ Lai 00:06:01.635 --> 00:06:06.015 several decades later by captain Thompson, 00:06:06.057 --> 00:06:08.578 one of the three soldiers on that heli- 00:06:08.625 --> 00:06:12.625 copter. And the deeply emotional moment 00:06:12.685 --> 00:06:15.548 when he meets again the two women he had 00:06:15.564 --> 00:06:19.564 saved. The women, now in middle-age, 00:06:19.568 --> 00:06:23.828 weep, and embrace him in gratitude for 00:06:23.854 --> 00:06:28.044 having saved their lives. The meaningful- 00:06:28.064 --> 00:06:32.776 ness of this moment is that the horror and 00:06:32.794 --> 00:06:36.634 grief of Mỹ Lai did not totally engulf 00:06:36.654 --> 00:06:41.524 these women. There was enough emotional 00:06:41.544 --> 00:06:45.884 empathy and maturity for them to make the 00:06:45.932 --> 00:06:49.367 distinction between those who had killed 00:06:49.404 --> 00:06:53.093 the innocents and the defenseless, and 00:06:53.111 --> 00:06:55.955 those brave men of conscience who did the 00:06:56.001 --> 00:06:57.971 right thing, during the- 00:06:58.011 --> 00:07:00.761 amidst the madness of that 00:07:00.791 --> 00:07:04.791 darkest day. Captain Thompson and his 00:07:04.831 --> 00:07:09.276 comrades did not let war dehumanise them. 00:07:09.291 --> 00:07:13.736 And the two women villagers emerged from 00:07:13.751 --> 00:07:18.761 the tragedy still able to discern right 00:07:18.781 --> 00:07:24.147 from wrong. To remain unembedded, 00:07:24.169 --> 00:07:31.279 unhateful in a world still humane. It is 00:07:31.321 --> 00:07:35.949 the singular legacy of openness of heart 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:40.419 and soul that we Vietnamese, from inside 00:07:40.460 --> 00:07:43.840 and outside Vietnam, must treasure and 00:07:43.859 --> 00:07:48.259 uphold. I'd like now to ask, "what is it 00:07:48.366 --> 00:07:51.523 that the Vietnamese are known for?" 00:07:51.575 --> 00:07:56.812 I would say: their fortitude, their 00:07:56.856 --> 00:07:58.587 resilience, their 00:07:58.661 --> 00:08:02.946 resourcefulness, their adaptability. 00:08:02.990 --> 00:08:07.840 "Tomorrow is another day." These words of 00:08:07.840 --> 00:08:10.610 Scarlet O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind" 00:08:10.649 --> 00:08:13.655 hold particular resonance 00:08:13.664 --> 00:08:18.049 with the Vietnamese psyche. Post-war 00:08:18.080 --> 00:08:22.839 Vietnam is a living testimony to this. Let 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:26.801 me tell you the story of Jerry Sternin. 00:08:26.843 --> 00:08:30.746 Jerry Sternin was the country director of 00:08:30.762 --> 00:08:34.281 Save the Children U.S. in Vietnam. One 00:08:34.294 --> 00:08:37.444 day, he said something puzzling to me. He 00:08:37.464 --> 00:08:41.214 said, "I've never had to feel pity for 00:08:41.234 --> 00:08:44.714 anyone in Vietnam." Of course, I asked 00:08:44.734 --> 00:08:48.204 him, "What do you mean?" And here is his 00:08:48.224 --> 00:08:51.202 answer: "I've worked in many poor 00:08:51.255 --> 00:08:54.655 countries of the developing world. There 00:08:54.682 --> 00:08:57.572 still are, in Vietnam, pockets of poverty 00:08:57.577 --> 00:09:01.197 comparable to, say, Bangladesh. But in 00:09:01.227 --> 00:09:04.512 the most destitute corners of Vietnam, 00:09:04.512 --> 00:09:08.361 I've never had to feel pity for the old 00:09:08.363 --> 00:09:12.528 villagers that I met because, looking at 00:09:12.575 --> 00:09:16.055 them, there was no sense of despair, of 00:09:16.077 --> 00:09:19.682 fatalistic resignation of the sense of 00:09:19.687 --> 00:09:25.167 giving up. Instead, you could read the 00:09:25.207 --> 00:09:28.321 quiet resolve that they would continue 00:09:28.327 --> 00:09:32.029 to strive for a better future - if not 00:09:32.047 --> 00:09:34.882 for themselves, then for their children 00:09:34.888 --> 00:09:38.888 and grandchildren." This is the fortitude, 00:09:38.900 --> 00:09:41.275 the resilience, the ability to look ahead 00:09:41.297 --> 00:09:44.917 and adapt. In other words, the indomitable 00:09:44.927 --> 00:09:48.957 character that I've been speaking of. The 00:09:48.977 --> 00:09:53.017 Vietnamese diaspora on all continents 00:09:53.028 --> 00:09:57.028 equally show this remarkable ability to 00:09:57.038 --> 00:10:01.908 overcome, rise, and excel, in different 00:10:01.977 --> 00:10:06.257 places, in diverse circumstances, 00:10:06.268 --> 00:10:11.708 particularly the power of education. 00:10:11.737 --> 00:10:14.597 Now, what lies ahead? What challenges lie 00:10:14.660 --> 00:10:18.930 ahead for Vietnam and the Vietnamese? 00:10:18.994 --> 00:10:23.504 During the war, greed - this basic human 00:10:23.543 --> 00:10:28.923 instinct - was naturally muted by deeper 00:10:28.933 --> 00:10:34.103 and more powerful drivers of our actions. 00:10:34.135 --> 00:10:38.405 Today, in peace and plenty, we are faced- 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:41.150 we, the Vietnamese, we are faced with a 00:10:41.169 --> 00:10:46.303 threat of greed, unleashed, shameless. And 00:10:46.343 --> 00:10:50.343 this is an extential threat to our legacy 00:10:50.362 --> 00:10:54.972 and identity. During the war, we were 00:10:55.022 --> 00:10:58.042 grounded in our local and national 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:02.225 reality, no matter how harsh. Today, as we 00:11:02.238 --> 00:11:05.635 move into the world, as we are more of 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:08.949 the world, we still need, in fact, more 00:11:08.987 --> 00:11:12.127 than ever, to nurture our roots; our sense 00:11:12.152 --> 00:11:16.542 of belonging to specific place, community, 00:11:16.560 --> 00:11:23.205 nation. Culture dies hard. "Culture is 00:11:23.222 --> 00:11:24.942 what is left when you have 00:11:24.972 --> 00:11:28.592 lost everything," as the French writer 00:11:28.629 --> 00:11:33.349 says. Culture makes us human. 00:11:33.371 --> 00:11:35.221 The Vietnamese culture and 00:11:35.262 --> 00:11:39.026 character has enabled us to absorb, to 00:11:39.032 --> 00:11:43.032 assimilate, and to turn into our own the 00:11:43.042 --> 00:11:46.632 changes that we face through the centuries 00:11:46.682 --> 00:11:51.569 and today, it enables us to live with the 00:11:51.596 --> 00:11:55.596 paradox of reconciling globalism and 00:11:55.617 --> 00:11:59.927 individuality. Those of you who belong to 00:11:59.958 --> 00:12:04.946 the worldwide Vietnamese diaspora do 00:12:04.988 --> 00:12:09.618 embrace the richness of biculturalism. The 00:12:09.657 --> 00:12:13.333 culture of the society you live in, of the 00:12:13.346 --> 00:12:16.396 country you're a citizen of, and the 00:12:16.423 --> 00:12:20.975 culture of your origins. Nurture your 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:24.886 biculturalism, or cross-culturalism, and 00:12:24.896 --> 00:12:27.957 then you can confidently move back to the 00:12:27.982 --> 00:12:32.489 world, secure, knowing who you are, where 00:12:32.525 --> 00:12:35.598 you belong, and what you can offer to the 00:12:35.637 --> 00:12:41.221 world. And remember: in this day and age, 00:12:41.250 --> 00:12:44.917 you can belong to more than one place. 00:12:44.930 --> 00:12:51.324 The global and the local are in you. 00:12:51.340 --> 00:12:54.156 Vietnam, and the Vietnamese, come to the 00:12:54.190 --> 00:12:58.883 world with a message of hope, fortitude, 00:12:58.908 --> 00:13:01.305 and compassion. Thank you. 00:13:01.328 --> 00:13:03.878 (Applause) 00:13:03.958 --> 00:13:08.140 (Music Playing) 00:13:08.150 --> 00:13:11.400 (Music Fades)