Discussion to Establish the Concession Society in Vietnam

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Discussion to Establish the Concession Society in Vietnam

Phan Tan

Doctor of Sociology, Senior Research Faculty,

Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

Add: 1 Lieu Giai str., Ba Dinh distr., Hanoi City, Vietnam

Phone: +84.98.3316573

Email: phantanxh@gmail.com

Abstract: Last time, public opinion was unremittingly criticizing the acts contrary to the law, morality, tradition,... of one part of people. Those acts are the riding on the sidewalk, encroaching traffic bar, disobeying the traffic light, causing traffic jams; as well as scrambling for the Seal in the temple, for the flowers in festival, broke down the gate to enroll for their children; and to our more shame there were jostle, shove, trample for purchase discount goods and free meals; and the peak of shame is looting instead of helping in the accidents,... But it seems these types of behavior are "standing every opinion storms", remaining "resistant to all prescriptions and therapies", and still occur every day in our lives. Is it lacking the concession in the instinct of every human being?

Now it is time for every people, every leader themselves to determine their responsibilities for these "ashamed" acts. It is needing changes starting from single individuals instead of waiting for the change from the macro perspective of the entire social structure.

Keywords: Concession society, public opinion, moral behaviour, communication, Vietnam.

Introduction

Concession is one of human’s natures formed in communication culture. Hence, it is first of all a study subject of social psychology. Culture sociology, ethics and some other sciences can consider it as their study subject. However, if we want to discover deeply and trace the nature of this subject, we must consider social psychology as a main research mode.

As a phenomenon of psycological life, in everyday life, concession attitude is mainly regulated by morality, habit, customs and conduct culture. However, in economical, political and legal relations, there is not lack of conditions in which the concession attitude can express or makes the impacts. But, concession culture in Vietnam is lacking in economical, legal and political relations. And that is what to talk about.

This article is not intended to study the whole issue of the above idea. The main issue the author wants to pose is: Today, in communication culture in general, and at all levels, it lacks a quality – and now this lack is very serious and dangerous – which is concession, or we can express it in different way as concession quality, concession culture, concession communication habit, concession behavior. Any expression is reasonable in its own way. Perhaps because in any expression, the social spiritual life will reveal that shortcoming – concession. In comparing with the wider society, this lack can be seen more clearly and is more pressing.

This article does not deeply yet analyze the complicated aspects of the issue, but only expresses the first feelings of this lack in Vietnam. We think these warning, awakening feelings are necessary for the further profound researches of the issue.

Posing the problem of building the concession society, we hope this is the proper, pressing and significant one. We wish the other authors responsing to this issue to further research in different aspects. If the researches show results soon, we can prevent the lack of concession, and its violent and extreme forms such as scrambling, robbing etc. will be adjusted to go back to the normal state of a culture society. Thus, the society will become better.

I. Concession culture in communication in some countries

Having the chance to observe concession culture in communication in some countries such as the U.S, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea etc., we have some comments as follows:

The smallest thing to be said is the culture in the queuing. People who come first will line up first, to be served first; people who come later will line up behind, to be served later; in a long line of patient people, no one intends to jostle or push the other out; all are willing to wait for their turns without a complaint or an expression of discomfort. Even in case the “boss” comes later, he must queue behind the “staff”, must still follow the order, there is no way that people will “respect the boss” and offer the place. But even if it is so, the “boss” will not dare to accept because of the look of those around him. In their mind, it is the cultural norm of a normal society. Going against this is culture lack.

Observing their behaviors in traffic culture also makes us to ponder: giving way is always the top priority; people give the others way even when these ones do not drive in accordance with the law. Pedestrians feel respected, and there is a feeling of security among them.

In working relationship, the sense of helping, sharing of expertise, responsibility in handling job requirements are always their top priority. People who come to work, especially foreigners, are always welcome in a loving - communal attitude.

Phrases like “sorry”, “nice to meet you”, “see you again”... are always in each conversation.

People always have in mind the idea that they should have civilized behavior. Everyone feels ashamed of himself when he has any behavior, even the smallest, not in accordance with normal behaviors or deranging other people.

Everyone has the permanent sense of concession.

However, that does not mean that concession is practised without principles. In any nation, any era, there will be areas where concession does not mean telling something wrong when it is right, bending the law or abandoning the good, acting against conscience.

II. Problems of communication culture in Vietnam

- Competing for small benefit

Recently, many newspapers, conferences, seminars have voiced about the painful phenomena of Vietnamese culture, making those who consider themselves cultured feeling ashamed: jostling, scrambling and pressing on each other for the seal in Trần Temple, for the loan from the saint in Bà Chúa Kho Temple which caused many people fainted, injured; pushing down school gate to get children’s school admission; struggling to get sushi for free; screaming and scrambling for 100,000 VND buffet meals; fighting with each other for every single free raincoat; stampeding to purchase discount goods; neglecting people in distress to loot in traffic accidents; being those doctors who show emotionless to patients;... (Hạnh Nguyên 2013).

- Competing in driving and queuing

Many people in our society seem to only wait for a chance to “violate” regulations, laws, break the inherent order. The idea of “queuing” seems unfamiliar to Vietnamese. In traffic habits, whenever the red light is ending (the green light is not even on) at the intersections, everyone tries to... “honk loudly”. Riding on pavement, encroaching on the wrong lane have become habits that are difficult to give up for many people. Only a small congestion can immediately make them “weave their way in and out traffic for their own sake”... It is up to an extent that the Chairman of Hanoi had to recognize at a meeting to review the work of urban traffic order that: “There is nowhere chaotic traffic like in Hanoi” (Quang Phong 2014). Giving way, helping the disabled, the pregnant women, the small children,... seem to only exist on regulation boards, slogans, callings. Witnessing traffic order in Vietnam, foreigners see it as their new discovery. A German journalist posted on website “Welt” an article titled “Traffic in Hanoi – a perfectly normal madness”. Comparing with Laos – “land of million elephants”, he called Vietnam ”land of million horns”, and even wrote: “Every Vietnamese drives recklessly, forming the general style that no one gives way to the other. Because everyone thinks the same so it is normally okay”, and “concession shall be deemed to get yourself in accident” (Nguyễn Sĩ Phương 2010). And American journalist Llewellyn King, posted an article on “Huffington Post” saying that “Traffic in Hanoi is one of the wonders of the world” (Nhật Minh 2015).

Hawkers on the streets, people who encroach pavements to sell foods on the street... compete for seats, for sale space, refuse to give even half the brick row of pavement; they are ready to quarrel, even beat or curse each other despite they are both in violation of public order. At railway stations, bus stations, there are plenty of people who cut the queue and jostle others out to buy tickets, then they jostle others even when getting in and out of the bus or train; even when they already have tickets with seat numbers, which means nobody can scramble with them, they still do not want to queue for getting in vehicle, but still jostle, trample on each other.

All of those actions are expression for the motto taken to heart: “Wise people live, stupid people die” (Giang Lân 2012).

- Violence in resolving relationships

Here, we do not talk about mafia gangs killing each other and brutal robberies of professional thieves, we only consider the most normal communication and relationships in daily life where violent behaviors can be seen at any time, any place. One might stab the other because of a look said to be “malicious”, or of an “unpleasant” word; the others might kill each other because of a small “collision”. The habit of using violence even spreads to civil servants, even a deputy director of a department behaves like a thugs  (Nguyễn Đức 2014). On the websites, occasionally, clips of female students fighting startle many parents, and “it is still happening despite many penalties were given” (Tráng Vũ 2014). The acts of violence of people against public officials are not rare in the society...

Somebody says, nowadays, time is precious like gold, so giving up the turn to the other is impossible or no longer exist. But according to our observation and perception, people compete with each other not because of precious time, but because they no longer know how to give up the turn to each other. Public communication culture in Vietnam has never been deteriorated like today.

We ache at here statements: “That’s how Vietnam is !”. But this is the common situation in Vietnam ! Now in Vietnam, how a crowd become crazy because of a very small bargain has become normal. Now in Vietnam, even in the most peaceful time, people still like to hustle, push each other...

III. What is the cause?

- It is suggested that we seem to have no culture in queuing. Vietnamese did queue up since the state subsidization period, but this queuing was not like any other one; the behavior of “line up by brick” have distorted the culture of waiting. Hence, until now, when life is better, people still do not queue in a civilized manner.

The lesson “The two goats passing the bridge” is included in moral education for young students. No one would forget it. But apparently, it is only a lesson of the two goats, it cannot be absorbed into the concession culture of Vietnamese.

Classes on Traffic Law always guide in details on the principles and practical situations when joining in traffic, including on how to concede oneself for each other, such as giving way to pedestrians. However, there are not so many people remember this lesson, and Traffic Law is not strict enough to deter this case.

It is suggested that confidence in the fairness in sharing (distributing) has been put to the bottom; if they do not jostle and queue seriously, will they get their share? If there is concession, it is only the case when “being forced to give up to avoid bad luck”, “Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you”. All concession, empathy are equated with the feelings of being lost or even humiliated.

- In an article about the queuing culture, author Nguyen Quang Than once explained: this scramble is derived from “eating culture of the village” (Nguyễn Quang Thân 2013). The thinking of “even a brief moment of fame is better than obscurity”, or “an early riser is sure to be in luck”, “the early bird catches the worm”... have been passed down from generations and still exist in the genes, blood and minds of many Vietnamese. When there is a chance, they will erupt to show other people. However, this opinion seems inappropriate for young people today, when they have more access to the outside world. They do not lack of “food” to the extent that they have to scramble. But this habit seems to stay in their mind, making them to do it as inertia. So that some people even say "it is for fun” (!?).

Many people complain that, in schools, teachers mention queuing culture, but in the society, adults act in the opposite. Many parents try to teach their children that queuing expresses civilization, but everyday the children still see the opposite, mostly by adults, which makes them lose their direction of  “cultural values”.

Vietnam’s education has been criticized for being concentrate on competition and gaining achievements; lacking of promoting the spirit of peace, humanity; our education lacks of educating the good direction. We can say that, it is an education that, from family to society, follows the spirit “Wise people eat / Stupid people are eaten” (Giang Lân 2012), it is an education of bullying.

- Many people doubt and question: do Vietnamese people prefer violence and only know to use violence to solve discord, disagreement, and dispute? Do they lack of faith in justice, in the proper, impartial, timely, effective intervention of law? And a sad reality is that when someone really wants to concede, to help for no benefit, he is being suspected, like "it looks like he has some intentions with me that is why he is good like that”.

- However, “those same Vietnamese” when living, studying and working in civilized countries, they master the queuing culture, no one cuts the queue, they seem to come from somewhere else, it is not like they have just jostled in their country. Not only that they understand queuing is the quickest, most civilized and safest way, but they are also afraid of the look from other civilized people as if they are the “non-standard” people. This implies that, individual’s fault is just a small fault; while the fault of mechanism and of order is perhaps greater one.

IV. Establishing the concession society

1. Correct conception of concession society

It is not forcing or misleading when we recall the conceptions of Buddhist culture. Buddhism teaches that: concession must be established in four things: status – money – reputation - feeling. The society where people do not concede will be more disordered; people who do not concede, do not think for surrounding people, only think for themselves, will be the cause of evil. That person will live in torment, without spiritual peace because of their scramble, aggressive thinking.

At the question “what a concession person is”, one may say that “it is a person who sacrifices their interest and happiness for the others, thinks for other people, and forgives others’ mistakes”. Actually, this is just the high demand of concession quality. In normal communication, the requirements of concession culture is more natural and simple.

According to the Venerable Thích Chân Quang, “Unlike forbearance which means keep calm when experiencing unwanted things, concession means to take good benefits for others”. “Concession is similar to almsgiving, they both about giving what you have to others. But... almsgiving, according to general meaning, often means sharing what you are having with others but still keeping something for yourself... Meanwhile, concession has different meaning. If conceding thing to the others, you no longer have it” (Venerable Thích Chân Quang 2009).

Concession can be considered at least at two levels. Conceding material benefits is a great spirit, a voluntary sacrifice. Conceding chance to speak and conceding way is a behavior culture. Concession we are talking here is conceding the favor, the better conditions to the others. Concession should be the top priority and understood as normal behavior; it will not make yourself disadvantaged and weak, it teaches people a reason for living, practices a habit for good character, if not, inhuman result can occur like the tale “Two goats passing a bridge”.

2. Right actions to establish the concession society

- Social action: education – setting an example

If one is educated at an early age orderly and with thoughtfully communication rules, it will help to form good personality and behavior. Education here means in both school and family. Reminding of bad habits is also one way of education. Adults always have to set example for children to look at and follow, from speaking, acting, behavior, lifestyle, morality, conduct, culture... Building communication habit and culture for children will gradually go into their minds and daily lifestyle as a positive habit. The fact that parents set examples, everyone in the family says thanks and concedes themselves will give children sense of conceding themselves for the others and that will become their voluntary actions.

When in primary or secondary school time, if a student is taught and practices the habit of queuing, not causing disorder on the streets, giving up food, no scrambling and having self-esteem when being matured, they will never have bad behaviors. In an experience of Japanese’s queuing culture, witnessing a 9-year-old boy who did not receive his prioritized dry food because of his desire of fairness, a scholar wrote: “It’s unexpected that a 9-year-old boy who is just in 3rd grade can teach an educated person with Ph.D. degree like me a lesson on how to be a man in the most miserable time. It’s an incredibly touching lesson on sacrifice. I think a nation with 9-year-old boys who are patient, endure hardships and sacrifice for the others is certainly a great nation” (Hà Minh Thành 2012).

- Social action: establishing responsible community

We can completely agree with the calling: we are Vietnamese with the tradition of self-esteem and the human morality as the foundation. Our lives are comfortably off and those lives will be even better, we will eat better foods and wear nicer clothes. We do not need to fight for a free meal, a new overseas food. We cannot live purely by our instinct, even in the most difficult time in life. We cannot be the joke before other people (Vũ Đức Sao Biển 2013).

Public opinion has been very supportive of the article “Why is there no queue?” of Tuổi trẻ Newspaper (Công Nhật 2009). Many comments from readers indicate that there should be resolute attitude, becoming social action: people who interrupt the queue will definitely not be served.

Or it is needed to build “concession culture on the street” (Hoàng Cửu Long 2011). Traffic culture is very close to everyone in the community, building traffic culture right in yourself, in your family and in the entire society. It is the act of voluntarily abiding by the rules, the act of giving way on the roads.

You can never get enough of law, law also cannot govern all living activities – all areas in the relationships among people, among communities. Thus, it is the community life that in which emerges moral, religion and culture. Each individual, each social group should act for the community; should have self-aware, set their own example, be kind, live righteously; should make yourself a decent lifestyle. I remember the late Doctor Hoang Ngoc Hien once mentioned “righteous” lifestyle in Vietnamese subconscious wisdom that should be evoked in the mind of every Vietnamese, but unfortunately, this idea has not been widely empathized.

- Public opinion orienting action

Public opinion is not an institution that forces to solve painful social phenomenon overnight. But the rising opinion waves and their echoes can gradually absorbed into the consciousness of each person if they can be more drastic and have clearer direction.

We may have the concession culture, may take concession actions, but those things must go into the subconscious or presented in our daily actions.

- Concesssion for development

If each person is aware of concession, the society will progress faster. A concession society will create a “Vietnamese style” in a different sense in the view of international friends. In a concession society, an important action is that everyone has to build their own “ashamed culture”:

·  Ashamed because the country develops slowly, because it cannot compete with the world in terms of innovation, creativity, initiative...

·  Ashamed because we interrupt the queue just to fight for a trivial piece of food, the petty benefit, tarnishing the country’s image during the integration.

·  Ashamed because a member in the community has deviant behavior affecting badly the community’s reputation.

It is now time for each citizen, each leader, each manager to define their own responsibility. Before waiting for macro change in the entire social structure, it is needed to have change starting from each individual.

However, besides calling for concession, we also need to be alert that we cannot eliminate the competition entirely for development. Competition has different nature compared to scramble. Scramble is a more intense version of the lack of concession. But competition is not in contradiction with concession. Besides concession, it is necessary to have the attitude of competition in manufacturing, business, product innovation; competition in invention for advancement, for everyone’s benefit.    

References

Vũ Đức Sao Biển. 2013. "Should we scramble?", Tin Nóng, accessed from http://tinnong.thanhnien.com.vn/giai-tri/co-nen-gianh-nhau-nhu-vay-19295.html (accessed on 01 December 2013).

Nguyễn Đức. 2014. "Two Deputy Directors fought in a public house", Vietnamnet.vn http://vietnamnet.vn/vn/xa-hoi/193480/hai-pho-giam-doc-so-danh-nhau-trong-quan-nhau.html (accessed on 21 August 2014).

Nhật Minh. 2015. "Traffic in Hanoi is one of the wonders of the world", Dân Trí, accessed from  http://dantri.com.vn/o-to-xe-may/giao-thong-ha-noi-la-mot-ky-quan-the-gioi-1420965826.htm (accessed on 04 January 2015).

Hạnh Nguyên. 2013. "Ashamed of screaming, scrambling for free food" Vietnamnet.vn, accessed from  http://vietnamnet.vn/vn/kinh-te/147318/xau-mat-canh-gao-thet--tranh-cuop-do-an-khuyen-mai.html (accessed on 01 November 2013).

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Hoàng Cửu Long. 2011. "Concession culture on the roads", Tuổi trẻ, accessed from http://tuoitre.vn/tin/ban-doc/cung-lam-bao/20110218/van-hoa-nhuong-nhin-tren-duong/425025.html (accessed on 18 February 2011).

Công Nhật recorded. 2009. "Why is there no queue!", Tuổi trẻ, accessed from http://tuoitre.vn/tin/ban-doc/20090416/sao-khong-xep-hang/311347.html (accessed on 16 April 2009).

Quang Phong. 2014. "Chairman of Hanoi: nowhere has chaotic traffic like Hanoi", Dân trí, accessed from http://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/chu-tich-thanh-pho-khong-o-dau-di-lai-lon-xon-nhu-ha-noi-1420578843.htm (accessed on 30 December 2014).

Venerable Thích Chân Quang. 2009. "Concession quality", Yume.vn, accessed from http://yume.vn/jimmy_coltech/article/duc-tinh-nhuong-nhin-35C01BFB.htm (accessed on 28 June 2009).

Hà Minh Thành. 2012. "Japanese’s queuing culture", Toiduhọc.vn, accessed from http://toiduhoc.vn/dat-nuoc-nhat-ban/48-van-hoa-nhat-ban/110-van-hoa-xep-hang-cua-nguoi-nhat.html (accessed on 8 April 2013).

Nguyễn Quang Thân. 2013. "Queuing culture and the shame that is difficult to defend", Một thế giới, accessed from http://motthegioi.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/van-hoa/van-hoa-xep-hang-va-noi-xau-ho-kho-bao-chua-28757.html (accessed on 6 December 2013).

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