The traditional family
Traditionally, the Vietnamese family is structured like a clan, with the patriarchal figure at the center. All descendants of a common ancestor belong to the same clan family, the ho or tôc. All clan members share the same family name. While the ho continues to be the family structure used to identify ancestors, it is now at the level of the gia (or nha), i.e. nuclear families, that paternal power is exercised. The authority of the clan chief(ho) is now increasingly symbolic, even if he retains his role as guardian of ancestor worship and responsible for the upkeep of the tombs. The duty of piety and the principles of respect, submission and hierarchy between generations have their origins in Confucian tradition. The Vietnamese language bears the imprint of these conceptions, and a person will never say "I", but will always have to position himself and address others differently according to his social and family position and age: he will refer to himself as a "child" in relation to his parents and grandparents, as a "little sister" or "little brother" in relation to his elders, as a "big sister" or "big brother" in relation to his younger siblings. These terms of kinship are used in all social relations, even outside the family, and the use of personal pronouns underlines the respect, indifference or even contempt we reserve for our interlocutor.
A landmark that capsizes?
The Doi moi reforms, the opening up of the economy and the new lifestyles brought about by the country's rapid urbanization and ever-increasing foreign trade are challenging traditional structures. The Western family model, with its values of freedom and individual happiness, is changing customs and mentalities. Ties between generations are weakening as a result of excessively different life experiences. Marital and family harmony is undermined by working hours and the demands of modernity. And yet, despite economic and social upheavals, the family remains a source of stability in Vietnam. In the event of hospitalization, for example, family members take it in turns to take care of the patient (paramedical care, food, etc.), which in France is the task of medical staff. Officially, at the beginning of 2024, over 93.35% of Vietnamese were covered by health insurance. These figures should not be misleading. Although Vietnam has seen a significant reduction in poverty, social security, pensions and protection against the vagaries of life remain challenges. All too often, family solidarity and the informal economy remain the only social safety nets, leaving the poorest in a situation of great vulnerability.
Vietnamese names
In the past, depending on their rank, Vietnamese could have up to five names. Today, they officially bear three. The first is the patronymic or clan name(tên ho), most often borrowed from imperial dynasties or the most famous families. Today, there are some 300 patronymic names. 55% of families are called Nguyên. The second is the intercalary or added name(chu dêm). It separates the clan name from the third name. In the past, the word Thi appeared in almost all female names, evoking the wish for numerous descendants. Male names are chosen from a wider range: Ngoc, Xuan or Van. And finally, the third is the first name(tên tuc). Women's names are most often those of trees, flowers, birds or precious stones: Ngoc (jade), Loan (phoenix), Yên (swallow). Men's names are more abstract: Duc (virtue), Thu (autumn). First names can also be composed of two names. It was forbidden to bear the same first name as the sovereign or the great scholars, on pain of failing a competitive examination. The naming of the child, often chosen jointly by the parents and grandparents, gave rise to a celebration. The word "Madame" or "Monsieur" is followed by the first name. So, for a woman called Do Hoang Quynh (surname + leap word + first name), we say Madame Quynh.
The place of women
The value system derived from Confucianism imposes the "Three Dependencies" on women: as a child, the daughter is subject to the authority of her father; as a wife, to that of her husband; as a widow, to that of her eldest son. But historians agree that Vietnamese women are the most liberated of all those who have received Confucian influence in Asia. Common parlance has kept a trace of this distinctly Vietnamese background, and husbands know that they must take it easy in front of "the general of the interior"(noi tuong). Vietnamese women often wear pants, and not just literally. Vietnamese women took part in the struggle for survival when the men went to war. On the Ho Chi Minh trail, they worked in a multitude of fields that had previously been the preserve of men. Vietnam has signed up to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In politics, women now hold increasingly important positions. In April 2016, Madame Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan was elected President of the National Assembly in the 12th Legislature, for a five-year term until March 2021, when Vuong Dinh Huê took over the post. In the business world, some of the country's biggest companies are headed by women, such as Vinamilk (Mai Kieu Lien) and VietJet Air (Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao). The latter is also Vietnam's first female billionaire (in US$).
Yet certain inequalities persist. Marriage remains the norm and, paradoxically, single women over the age of 30, who are often university graduates, are finding it increasingly difficult to find a husband. We call them ê, "those who have been left on the shelf". They are often painfully aware of the situation, marginalized by the social pressure that makes them feel guilty for not yet being married and having a family. Graduated and well-paid, their potential suitors would be intimidated by such a display of intelligence. In the decision-making process, women are less well represented, particularly at local level. Gender inequality also exists within the family home, where there is a preference for sons. All the experts emphasize the ignorance of young Vietnamese when it comes to sex education, an ignorance that is reflected in a number of tragedies (abortions, unrecognized children, etc.). In addition to the ever-present danger of AIDS, unprotected premarital sex results in very high abortion rates. When they do become pregnant, young girls are often left to fend for themselves, facing the opprobrium of a fundamentally conservative society.
Homosexuality: still a taboo?
From September 29 to October1, 2023, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City celebrated the 11th edition of VietPride, first held in Hanoi in 2012. The event is now commonplace, but the homosexual question has long been avoided in a society that carries the heritage of Confucian family values. From this perspective, homosexuality is not acceptable for a son who is expected to take a wife in order to give his father grandsons. The influence of Stalinism, which criminalized homosexuality, also played its part in perpetuating the taboo. The Communist regime, inflexible with dissent, now appears to be one of the most progressive in Asia on the homosexual question, an evolution all the more remarkable given that only fifteen years ago, the press classified homosexuality as a "social scourge" on a par with drugs and prostitution. Are the authorities trying to give themselves a liberal veneer in a context where the rigidity of power is increasingly criticized? In any case, the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community is welcoming real progress. In 2012, deputies in the National Assembly considered legalizing same-sex marriage - a step that would have made Vietnam a forerunner of gay rights in the region - but gave up. From now on, people who have undergone a sex change have the right to request a change in their civil status, and the Assembly repealed the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. On June 30, 2016, in Geneva, Vietnam voted in favor of a resolution establishing the creation of an expert post, by the UN Human Rights Council, against discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Attitudes are also changing in society, and despite the persistence of certain forms of discrimination, prejudice is tending to crumble. The presence of gay and transgender presenters and singers on television is becoming commonplace. Film-makers and writers are also playing their part in transforming representations. Bo ba di thoa ("My best gay friends"), a homemade sitcom broadcast since 2012 on YouTube, attracts a very large audience. It was created by film student and openly gay Huynh Nguyen Dang Khoa, who directs, produces, writes and stars in the series himself, which chronicles the daily lives of three young gays sharing an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City. Each episode lasts around 20 minutes and is made on a shoestring (a budget of 1,000,000 VND, or US$50). Despite this lack of budget, the series is a hit, with some episodes receiving over two million views. Directed by Phan Dang Di, the film Mekong Stories (2015), presented at the Berlin International Film Festival, narrates the daily life of Vu, a photography student in love with his roommate in 1990s Saigon. In 2014, at the Festival du Cinéma du Réel in Paris, director Nguyên Thi Tham presented Le dernier voyage de Madame Phung, a documentary about a troupe of mostly transvestite showmen. Finding Phong (2015), presented at numerous festivals around the world, is a documentary directed by Trân Phuong Thao and Swann Dubus, about Phong, a young Vietnamese woman trapped in a boy's body who decides to undergo a sex-change process in Thailand. Les collines d'eucalyptus (Éditions Sabine Wespieser, 2014) is a novel by Duong Thu Huong, a Vietnamese novelist and dissident who has taken refuge in France. Set in Vietnam in the late 1980s, the destiny of the hero Thanh changes when he discovers his homosexuality.
Education
Vietnam has considerably improved the performance of its education system in a relatively short space of time. Vietnam's literacy and enrolment rates are higher than those of other countries in the region in the same income bracket. Vietnam regularly achieves excellent results in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) rankings of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which measure the performance of each country's education system. In the 2022 edition, Vietnam occupied 34th position (France was ranked 26th behind the Netherlands and Germany). But the country still faces the challenges of equal access for all population groups and improving the quality of teaching and learning. The wealthiest families send their children to Western universities, a privilege inaccessible to the majority, who have to make do with an education system that is under-resourced and slow to reform.
Social tensions
In 2024, the minimum monthly wage in Vietnam was between €170 and €280, depending on the region. By the authorities' own admission, this legal minimum covers only 80% of basic needs. Growth is accompanied by ever-increasing disparities, with the most glaring inequalities separating rural and urban areas. The influx of capital has given rise to a wealthy new class, but we shouldn't be fooled by the parade of luxury cars, expensive motorcycles and the ringing of the latest cell phones, which are the prerogative of a small proportion of the urban population. If, after more than 30 years of Doi Moi, Vietnam seems to have left behind the dark years of famine that followed the end of the war, there is still a long way to go to confirm the promises of the new dragon and establish a solid prosperity shared by the entire population.
The role of the Viêt kiêu
Name given to Vietnamese living abroad, often as a result of the vicissitudes of history: the Indochina War, the American War, the Boat People and, more recently, emigration for economic reasons. There are almost three million of them worldwide, mainly in the USA, France, Australia and Canada. In 1997, the Deputy Prime Minister defined them as "an integral part of the nation", even though many of them are viscerally anti-Communist. The Viêt kiêu are now finding it increasingly easy to return to their homeland, especially when it comes to visas. The Viêt kiêu represent a major source of financial transfers to Vietnam. In 2023, the amount of these transfers reached 16 billion US dollars, an annual increase of over 30%.
Human rights
Vietnam ranks 178th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) 2023 world press freedom index. In this one-party state, private publishing houses and independent human rights organizations are illegal. The print and broadcast media are tightly controlled. Arrests and detention without trial are commonplace for writers, journalists, independent bloggers, political dissidents, human rights and environmental activists, and members of churches or non-recognized religions. Reports produced by Amnesty International, RSF and Human Rights Watch are unequivocal about the intensification and harshness of the repression. Men and women are regularly sentenced to heavy prison terms of up to 20 years, following unfair trials.
Certain articles of the Penal Code, systematically invoked (disturbance of public order; propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...), allow unlimited preventive detention and arbitrary imprisonment. The authorities put pressure on certain prisoners whose situation is of interest to international opinion to agree to live in forced exile abroad, with no hope of return, even though their sentences will only be suspended and not cancelled.
Death penalty
It's a little-known fact, but Vietnam is one of the countries in the world with the highest number of executions. Since 2004, death penalty statistics have been classified as "state secrets", but according to the authorities, in 2018 there were at least 85 recorded executions and over 122 death sentences, a sharp increase on the previous year. Most of these convictions were for drug offenses. According to Amnesty International, in 2018, "China remained the country with the highest number of executions, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iraq". Since a law passed by the National Assembly in 2010, which came into force in July 2011, those condemned to death have been executed by injection rather than by gunshot. Executions, temporarily suspended due to the lack of products needed to make up the lethal injection, resumed in August 2013, following an amendment to the legislation authorizing the use of local products. Adopted in November 2015, Vietnam's amended Penal Code reduced the number of capital crimes to 18, but did not abolish the death penalty for crimes concerning "national security", a vague qualification regularly invoked to justify the imprisonment of political and religious dissidents. Today, the use of the death penalty does not provoke debate in Vietnamese society.
