This blog entry has been long overdue, but upon returning from my trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last month, I did not get a chance to write down my reflection on the Fifth International Vietnamese Youth Conference due to school and work, but here it goes.
This conference in perspective
I have been very actively involved with the Lenduong International Vietnamese Youth Network ever since I attended and participated in the organization of the Third International Vietnamese Youth Conference in San Diego, CA, USA in 2003. It was that conference that has sparked my enthusiasm and activism with the Vietnamese youth community and really stretched my creativity and productivity to my limits. One could say that it was that conference that has really brought the best out of me and shaped the community person that I am today. However, it was a conference where I was so darn busy organizing, that I never really got to attend the workshops and experience it from an attendee’s perspective. So, in 2005 with much anticipation I attended the fourth conference in Sydney, Australia as an attendee, enjoyed doing so and had a fair share of experience being in front of the stage.
Well, for the Fifth International Vietnamese Youth Conference (Dai Hoi 5, or DH5 in short) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last month, I returned backstage, and boy, has that been a thrill ride. The following are some thoughts that I have on the conference, though note that I am writing this from an organizer’s point of perspective. As with DH3, I did not get a chance in attending too many workshops and was mainly busy running around doing IT stuff.
Overcoming a logistical challenge
We knew from the get-go that DH5 was a logistical challenge. From all conference so far, this was the conference with the least amount of ground-support (none to be exact), as there wasn’t a Vietnamese community that we could tap into. Organizing a conference of this scale though (some 270 attendees from 17 different countries) with a core team that was around 20 people spread across three continents was extremely challenging to say that least. From the many international conference calls, to the complexities of distributing the technical equipment and DH5 paraphernalia among volunteers’ pieces of luggage on our trip to Malaysia, to providing the international press with news and articles and doing live interviews despite a time difference of 15 hours, to finding local stores to buy last-minute items and the difficulties dealing with 3-4 types of power adaptors since we brought printers and 5 projectors from the US, Europe and Australia, were just a few of the many complications we all had to deal with. Needless to say, all of us ran on very little sleep during those three days, and it amazes me that in the end, we managed to execute on our plans without much hiccup or deviations. I am very proud to have been part of this team and can’t wait to rejoin them for the next project. I must commend Quoc, Gia, Duy and Trinh for being the supercore team that landed on foreign soil a month prior to layout the groundwork for us. Kudos to them!
Vietnamese youths from Vietnam
Of course, the decision to move the location of the fifth conference to Asia is to be close to the country that this conference is all about: Vietnam. While it was risky decision given the lack of experience and support operating on foreign soil that we knew little about, it was all worth it. Some 25 Vietnamese exchange students in Asia attended the conference, from which 16 came directly from Vietnam. I am absolutely delighted to see them actively participating in the conference and to defy the fear of possible repercussions by the to Vietnamese government. Yes, this conference has political content, and with its theme of “Building Civil Society – Grassroot Efforts for Democracy” it was a risk for students and youths from Vietnam to attend the conference. In fact, the Vietnamese government even contacted the Malaysian government and asked to shut us down on the basis that we were a “terrorist group”, but with much diplomacy and support from local politicians and representatives in the US, Europe and Australia we managed to win the Malaysian’s benefit of the doubt to let us organize this conference, despite some threats of shutting us down all the way to the hours preceding the conference. I was happy to see that the Vietnamese youths from Vietnam were very active and didn’t shy away from voicing their opinions and oftentimes giving us a better perspective while answering the questions about civil society in Vietnam.
Notable content about grassroots activism
As mentioned, I did not get a chance attending many workshops, but there were some key moments that stood out to me. For one, like with DH4 in Sydney, we managed to bring a notable voice from Vietnam through a live conference call/interview with the audience in Kuala Lumpur. Dieu Cay is a famous youth blogger in Vietnam who has voiced his opinion on the Hoang Sa/Truong Sa controversy and having him speak directly from Vietnam was bold statement of the new generation. Having Premesh Chandran, a CEO of a Malaysian news media organization, talk about grassroots approaches to free expression in the face of internet censorship was uplifting, and having Ms Chee Siok Chin from the Singapore Democratic Party present a grassroots video on “The Flame of Democracy” made me think of what a cool video this could be if we were to join forces with other activists yearning for change in their country. I am glad that I had Ham Tran’s permission to show “Journey from the Fall” to a small audience that hasn’t seen it yet, and I absolutely loved the documentary “Bringing Down a Dictator” that captured the grassroots efforts of the youths that brought an end to Serbia’s dictatorship in complete non-violent struggle. It’s the Civil Rights Movement for our generation, and I was very inspired by it. Unfortunately I did not manage to attend the workshop on “Dialogue among Vietnamese Youths”, which I’ve been told was one heated and well-attended workshop.
The Vietnamese Migrant Workers
The fight for Vietnamese migrant workers and mail-order brides is a hot topic in the Vietnamese community, but I often hear or use the term “Vietnamese migrant workers” without ever having really met one—until Kuala Lumpur this year. Conference chair Quoc was at a local market a few weeks prior the conference when he overheard some Vietnamese conversations exchanged by two people. Turns out that those were two Vietnamese migrant workers who were there buying the ingredients for the restaurant that they worked at. When Quoc reached out to them and asked to meet the remaining migrant workers to hear their story, they were at first very skeptical of Quoc’s seemingly altruistic behavior. In the words of one of them they “weren’t sure whether Quoc was a good or a bad person” as they have invited him over to meet the remaining migrant workers a few days later. Over the next several weeks, Quoc, Gia and other core team members started build trust and friendships with them, but more importantly empowered them on their quest to ask for better treatment by their employers. Our team helped them to start organizing themselves, and asked them to unify with other groups of Vietnamese migrant workers on the other side of the city, in preparation for a strike to demand fair pay and proper rights that they were already planning (poorly). The core team has forever changed their perspective and allowed them to realize the lobbying power that they have if they only talk with a unifying voice, and the coincidental timing of this incident along with DH5 and one of its workshop on “Building a Labor Movement of the People” was just right. I was happy to hear that Quoc managed to invite some of them to attend the conference as well, and was very humbled when we all visited the place that all of them share in the outskirts of the city after the conference. It was an empty place with no furniture, so we spread our dinner preparation out on the floor, and reflected over dinner on our short friendship and their future. Tears were shed, as we left this group of migrant workers who left Vietnam in hope for a better future and to support their family, but only to face legal difficulties and harsh conditions with little hope for financial success. Similar to my many trips to Vietnam, I find myself leaving the migrant worker’s empty place only wishing to have done more.
Kuala Lumpur - the city
While DH5 was one amazing experience for me, Kuala Lumpur and the Petronas Towers in particular was the other amazing experience. I have always been fascinated by Kuala Lumpur for the longest time. As a skyscraper enthusiast, I have been following the development of the Petronas Towers and have already seen many pictures of these towers that were once the tallest buildings in the world. But to actually be there and looking up the towers is an experience one can’t capture in words. The symmetry of the buildings and its absolutely-perfect shiny skin of the metal as it reflects under the spotlights at night bring the chills down my body despite the warm and humid air at night. Heck, look at the pictures I took below--those were unmodified/un-photoshopped pictures of the Petronas Towers! That’s how freaking awesome it looks for real to the naked eye!
I really like KL (as people call it there)-- it’s a metropolis of a city and a clash of Eastern and Western cultures. I found it totally cool to see Islamic, Buddhist, Christian beliefs being practiced so openly and intermixed with no apparent apprehension or intolerance.
Nostalgia
I look back and realize that while those three days were extremely tough and challenging, I already miss it so much. It has only been a little bit less than two months since this international gathering, but nostalgia already hits as write this blog entry. I genuinely miss DH5: the people, the attendees, the old friends I was able to see again, and the new friendships I have made. I miss going down to the fancy food court that looked like an Ikea-showroom with all the fancy furniture there and trying out all the Asian specialties with other staff members. I recount the many times people asked me for a power adapter, promising me to return it upon use, but really seeing it going into lala-land. I remember the one day where we lost internet in our condo, and all of us moved into the Coffee Bean down the street to work from there for the entire day. I remember walking into my fancy room at the 5-star hotel only to see the entire bed and floor covered with DH5 bags and registration packages that Duyen and PT have carefully laid out. Of course, the after-party and the after-after-party were also memorable experiences that make me smile (fortunately I didn’t get that as drunk as I did at DH4).
Multimedia
Time to look at some pictures and videos, shall we? Below is a list of official DH5 pictures and videos that I have uploaded so far (still more to come, I will update this blog entry appropriately). For this conference, I produced three new slideshows (Opening Ceremony, Welcome to Malaysia and Closing Ceremony), and I am very proud of the 3-screen Opening Ceremony slideshow, since I haven’t done a 3-screen slideshow since uNAVSA 2004. It would have been cooler if the left screen wasn’t delayed by a second, but ah well. I blame it on Duyen, heehee.
As with many events, it’s always the slideshow that gets cut the last minute when we run out of time, so the closing ceremony slideshow wasn’t actually shown during the closing ceremony, even though I locked myself up in a room for 4 hours to get that done, but here it is for your viewing pleasure.
I hope you enjoy the videos and pictures, and hope to see you all again at DH6 – location and time completely unknown at this point. Until then, let the grassroots efforts for a civil society in Vietnam begin.
Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dh5malaysia/
Friday, January 3rd
Parade of Flags / National Anthems
http://www.vimeo.com/598610
Welcome Message from US Rep. Loretta Sanchez
http://www.vimeo.com/468312
Welcome to Malaysia Video
http://www.vimeo.com/468316
Opening Remarks - Quoc Phan
http://www.vimeo.com/598649
US Delegation Speech - Phong Ly
http://www.vimeo.com/600365
Australian Delegation Speech - Tien Nguyen
http://www.vimeo.com/600449
Australian VSA Promotion Clip
http://www.vimeo.com/600488
Nail Dance
http://www.vimeo.com/599216
Fashion Show
http://www.vimeo.com/660888
Fashion Show (Alternate Version)
http://www.vimeo.com/662251
Angel - Do Khoa
http://www.vimeo.com/661138
Traditional Dance - Australian Delegation
http://www.vimeo.com/600604
Traditional Dance - Australian Delegation (Alternate Version)
http://www.vimeo.com/662176
Song - Thien Than Trong Bong Toi
http://www.vimeo.com/600704
Song - Thien Than Trong Bong Toi (Alternate Version)
http://www.vimeo.com/661935
Saturday, January 4th
Welcome Speech - Quoc Phan
http://www.vimeo.com/614535
Keynote Address - Patrick Brown
http://www.vimeo.com/604354
Opening Ceremony Slideshow (Main Screen)
http://www.vimeo.com/470858
Opening Ceremony Slideshow (Left Screen)
http://www.vimeo.com/598591
Opening Ceremony Slideshow (Right Screen)
http://www.vimeo.com/598653
Opening Ceremony Slideshow (Live View)
http://www.vimeo.com/614463
Scavenger Hunt Slideshow
http://www.vimeo.com/598561
From Dictatorship to Democracy - Chee Siok Chin
http://www.vimeo.com/661586
Flame of Democracy
http://www.vimeo.com/662251
Anh Oi T-Shirt Contest
http://www.vimeo.com/598573
Wind of Change - European Delegation
http://www.vimeo.com/632314
Cho Ð?ng Bào Tôi - Father Peter Nguyen Van Hung
http://www.vimeo.com/646116
Ngày ? Noi Ðâu - Father Peter Nguyen Van Hung
http://www.vimeo.com/646146
D?y Mà Ði - Father Peter Nguyen Van Hung
http://www.vimeo.com/646188
Sunday, January 6th
Summary and Reflection - Bich Tram
http://www.vimeo.com/646269
Closing Ceremony Slideshow
http://www.vimeo.com/473698
Closing Ceremony - Singing on Stage
http://www.vimeo.com/598477