Vietnam Omnibus

My sincere apologies for going AWOL for the last few weeks: I was in Vietnam for a week earlier this month, and since I returned to the Philippines I’ve kept putting off getting all the pictures together. Well, here they are, at long last: in a full, omnibus edition.

Hiep and his lovely wife, Huyen.

I went to Vietnam at the invitation of my great friend Hiep Nguyen, a Hanoi native whom I met through the Baptist Campus Ministry’s international student outreach when I was an undergraduate at Western Kentucky University. We became good friends, and were roommates for my first year of grad school at WKU, while Hiep finished his MBA. After graduation, Hiep returned to Vietnam, started an English as a Second Language teaching business, and got married! (If you’re interested in learning English in Vietnam, there’s no better place than http://globalchange.edu.vn/.) He’s wanted me to come to Vietnam ever since, and my being in the Philippines seemed close enough. Moreover, the last week in January coincided with the lunar new year, or Tet in Vietnam, the most important holiday of the year, when families gather together from around the country. I felt more privileged than I can say to be invited to join in Hiep’s family celebrations.

The 'turtle temple' at the center of Hoàn Kiếm Lake

Due to a scheduling snafu on my end, I arrived the day after the new year itself, but thankfully the Tet celebrations last for several days. The night of my arrival, Hiep drove me around Hanoi, and especially to a central place in the city, Hoàn Kiếm Lake, or “Lake of the Returned Sword.” As casual passers-by enjoyed a Tet family outing at the lake, Hiep told me the story of the lake: according to legend, the turtle in the lake gave a sword to a Vietnamese king of old, who used the sword to defeat the invading Chinese. Then, the king returned the sword to the turtle and the lake. The turtles who lived in the lake could live for hundreds and hundreds of years, and Vietnam mourned last year when the last was killed, apparently by an invasive species of Chinese turtle. Maybe the humans will help the turtles turn back the invaders this time.

Huyen's family, taking a picture for Tet.

The next morning, Hiep and his lovely wife Huyen drove me to Uông Bí, a city near the coast, to visit Huyen’s family. Although no one but Hiep and Huyen spoke very much English, Huyen’s family could not have made me feel more at home. Huyen’s grandfather (who made me really wish I could speak Vietnamese!) was particularly gracious, even entertaining Hiep and I with a performance on what I believe is the đàn nguyệt (literally, moon string instrument). Then, in what will remain one of my favorite moments in life, he pulled out an electric guitar and played the same song.

đàn nguyệt

Electric guitar

Ba Vang Pagoda

Huyen’s grandfather also took me to the newly completed Ba Vang Pagoda, one of the largest Buddhist pagodas in the world. The visit made me want to brush up on my Buddhism, as I realized how little of the iconography I understood! It is always a special experience to learn about others’ religious beliefs, and to engage in conversation about them. I appreciate Huyen’s grandfather bringing me along for what was a special and meaningful visit at an important time of year.

Ha Long Bay

The next morning, Hiep took me to Hạ Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site and possibly the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Nothing I have seen in all the world has more convinced me of a Creator behind the beauty in our world, though others might interpret the geologic processes which carved these beautiful islands out of limestone karst differently. (Interestingly, this karst is much like that in Kentucky, and its famous Mammoth Cave. In fact, Hiep proudly informed me on arrival that the Hang Son Doong cave system in central Vietnam has recently surpassed the Mammoth Cave system as the largest cave system in the world!) Looking back at these images brings to mind God’s answer to Job, when he asks “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?…Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb…? …The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment” (Job 38:4, 8, 14, NIV). On one island, we got to enjoy a cave, as well as a visit from an enterprising monkey taking advantage of the tourists to get some treats, including a banana—which it opened just like my Grandpa always told me, from the bottom. It then ate it in one bite.

Cute children

Monkey

Quốc Tử Giám

The next morning, we returned to Hanoi to visit more with Hiep’s family. In the afternoon, Hiep took me to the Quốc Tử Giám, or Imperial Academy, better known as the “Temple of Literature,” in downtown Hanoi. The complex, set up as Vietnam’s first national university in 1076 (!), was the site for study of Confucian classics by scholars preparing for exams to serve in the royal court. The gate to the inner courtyard, pictured here, is the symbol for Hanoi. Also pictured are huge stelae from 1484, set on the backs of turtles (who represent wisdom and learning in Vietnamese iconography), recording the names of doctors who passed the royal exams. I think when I (someday) finish this PhD, I should get a stele on the back of a turtle.

Turtle stele; available on Amazon?

Just outside the Temple of Literature, especially for Tet, calligraphists gather to write Chinese characters for luck. Hiep gave me one, with the appropriate word “Serendipity”—though I certainly see it as providence, I am grateful God brought Hiep and I together six years ago when he walked into the Baptist Campus Ministry!

Our calligrapher

All of this provides a good opportunity to discuss the ambiguous and ambivalent Chinese-Vietnamese relationship, as I observed it as an ignorant outsider who visited for a week. Chinese symbols and characters are everywhere, as Vietnam used the Chinese script, and was considered a part of the Sinic, Confucian world, prior to French colonization in the 1880s. (The French introduced the Romanized alphabet currently used for Vietnamese.) Yet, for all these affinities, a great deal of hostility toward China for its numerous conquests, or attempts at conquest, of Vietnam over the last two millennia, remains. The latest, in 1979 (an engagement which Vietnam decidedly won), provided the context for the calligrapher who wrote Hiep’s and my letters. He told us that after serving in the 1979 war, he learned Chinese so he could better understand how to fight them! Yet, his livelihood is selling Chinese characters to display proudly in Vietnamese homes!

 National Museum of Vietnam

The same theme emerged the next day, when Huyen, Hiep, and I went to the National Museum of Vietnam. Before the section on the anti-French anticolonial movement (which I found most interesting due to my interest in anticolonialism), practically the entire museum consisted of Vietnamese dynasties driving out, or repelling, Chinese invaders! Even though I tend to focus on European colonization, the museum provided a useful reminder that in the long, two millennia history of Vietnam, the French period (1880s-1954) consisted of a blip in time. Yet, the French and American wars in Vietnam scarred the countryside, and killed more people, than perhaps any of the hundred wars in the previous twenty centuries. The rusty French railway bridge we crossed later that day represents, for me, both the enduring legacy of the colonial era, and its utter hubris. The French didn’t assimilate Vietnam (though the Vietnamese have certainly mastered the baguette!), they built a piece of steel, no longer used for its original purpose, but appropriated by generations of later Vietnamese people.

Elaborate metaphor for colonialism

On a cheerier note, next to the museum, we visited a phở restaurant owned by Hiep’s brother. The phở, pictured here, was delicious: although it’s pretty common in the USA, this was easily the best I’d ever eaten. Usually eaten for breakfast, the rich broth, slurpy noodles, and tender beef are a perfect combination. With some lime juice squeezed in, and lots of herbs, you can’t beat it. Try it if you haven’t. And if you’re in Hanoi, be sure to go to the restaurant!

Hiep and Huyen in old Hanoi

Later that day, we also walked around the crowded streets and alleys of old Hanoi, with its old streets and colonial-era buildings—and lots of Westerners, since Vietnam has become a very attractive tourist spot.

On Friday, Hiep and I went to the outlying village of Bat Trang (after he mercifully let me sleep in), famous for its marvelous pottery. Hiep and I tried our hand at spinning the wheels (Hiep more successfully than I), but after we painted our beautiful vase and brought it back to Hiep’s house, we found it had crumbled in the wrapping! Alas.

Bat Trang

Hiep painting our ill-fated goblet

Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh

Saturday, my final full day in Vietnam, Huyen, Hiep and I went to the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Vietnamese Communist Party from the 1930s until his death in 1969, and revered as the founding father of Vietnam, having led the Viet Minh against the Japanese and the French, and then the North Vietnamese regime against the USA and the US-allied Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Ho’s face graces all of the currency, and his mausoleum (where he lies in state, like Mao and Lenin) rather outshines the National Parliament across the street. His humble abode, nearby, was a testament to the common touch which enabled him to lead a popular movement for decades, and reach nearly all of his goals. As an American, whatever one believes about Ho, the Vietnam War, or communism, his political and strategic acumen cannot be disregarded.

Van Phuc

Card patterns for silk looms

Finally, we dropped by Van Phuc, a little village tucked within Hanoi, famous for its silk production. As we shopped for beautiful silk scarves and shirts, we also dropped in on a small mill producing silk garments, using the sort of punch-card patterns my great-grandfather used in western North Carolina to make textiles. I don’t think he ever made any silk scarves, though!

All through my time in Hanoi, I got to spend time with Hiep’s family: his two older brothers, his oldest brother’s wife and two children, and Hiep’s parents. I enjoyed playing with Hiep’s nephew and niece (who were amused to no end by my repetition of their nonsense words), and receiving Hiep’s mother’s constant urges to eat more, from noodles and vegetables to more soybeans or more tea! Our last night together was bittersweet, as I expressed to Hiep’s father how grateful I was for his family welcoming me, and affirming that my family considers Hiep a member as well. He expressed hope that our relationship would continue to grow, and would bode well for continued US-Vietnamese cooperation and reconciliation. I could not concur more heartily.

Hiep with his (very silly) niece and nephew

Hiep's mother, in a typical scene, bringing more food. Hiep's brother and sister-in-law are in the center, with Hiep's father to the left. 

Hiep's father managing hotpot night!

A pretty great moment: with (from left) Hiep's father, nephew, brother, niece, and sister-in-law. And me, with a lovely gift (replica of a drumhead which we saw at the Temple of Literature and the National Museum) from the family. Their hospitality was gift enough by far!

Then, it was time to go. With a sad farewell, I left Hanoi. I hope to go back soon—to see Hiep and his family again, to learn some Vietnamese, to explore more of a beautiful country, and to better understand its history.

***
And, to keep up tradition, here is a totally unrelated video:
Don't think about it too hard.

I'm on a Boat

Just a short post this week: on Saturday evening I went for a little dinner cruise around Manila Bay, which provided a good occasion for some pictures of the Manila skyline, albeit at night. (I should highlight just how huge Manila is: Metro Manila has about 12.9 million people, according to 2015 numbers -- http://www.nso-ncr.ph/. That puts Manila on par with cities like Kolkata/Calcutta, Lagos, and Los Angeles. The Metro Manila area includes about 15 separate municipalities.)

Here is the aforementioned boat, where dinner was served:

One of the passengers was celebrating a birthday, which the crew and the musicians announced at least 10 times. It made me think of my dad, because of how much he loves that.

But here is seaside Manila at twilight:

The pier from which we left is off a small peninsula which juts out into the bay off the city, which stretches up and down the coast, and then continues inland. Here's that peninsula, which has casinos, a large mall (more on that in a bit), and hotels.

And, they just happened to do a little fireworks show--just for me, I'm sure.

So, back to malls. Manila, and the Philippines as a whole, is mall-crazy. Right on the peninsula with the pier is a gigantic mall, the Mall of Asia. (I think there should be a World Series of Malls, with the Mall of Asia vs. the Mall of America.) I just have a small piece of it here; just imagine this, but continuing forever.

This is terrible, but whenever I'm near a mall, I can't help but think of the Blues Brothers, and thus I will leave you with that edifying question, "Yes, do you have a Miss Piggy?"

Fear Itself

I hope you'll forgive my soapbox, as I think about being an American outside the country on an important day.

On January 6, 1941, FDR articulated a vision of what the United States of America could, and should, represent in the world. As part of his State of the Union address, he was explaining why the USA should support the British against the Nazis, and he said:

We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called “new order” of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

To that new order we oppose the greater conception -- the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.

Since the beginning of our American history we have been engaged in change, in a perpetual, peaceful revolution, a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly, adjusting itself to changing conditions without the concentration camp or the quicklime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.

This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women, and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights and keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose.

To that high concept there can be no end save victory.

This speech reflects ideals which the United States has rarely lived up to, but that doesn’t make them less valuable. The America that FDR describes here is one I want to live in, that I am proud to call my home. At the time, the Four Freedoms proved as inspirational outside the United States as they were inside the country. But the freedoms serve as a goal for Americans to pursue, both within our borders and around the world.

At a time when our country seems more divided than ever, and the world seems drawn more and more to a ‘new order’ on offer from Russia or China (one where political freedom is traded for material prosperity), I think we need to remember this speech, and its moment. January 1941 was a pretty dark time for democracy: the Nazi-Soviet pact still held, the British were on the ropes, France had fallen, and Japan was on the march. FDR had just been elected to an unprecedented third term, and had instituted the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.

Keeping the differences between 1941 and 2017 in mind, the Four Freedoms still offer us a path forward, through:

• Common goals (securing freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear), even if we disagree on how to achieve those goals.

• A resolve to refuse the power of fear: even though FDR refers to arms, I also love how the speech urges Americans to refuse fear more generally: “A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.” This should be familiar for Christians: “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, ESV).

• The choice to accept and commit to imperfect processes: After all, the good society can refuse fear because, even though it “placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women,” who are fickle and feeble, it also puts “its faith in freedom under the guidance of God.” Our American experiment, the American Revolution, continues, “steadily, quietly, adjusting itself to changing conditions without the concentration camp or the quicklime in the ditch.” To refer back to 2 Timothy, God replaces fear not simply with power but also with love and self-control.

• The reminder that no matter what divides Americans, or even what divides freedom-loving people all over the world from each other, “Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.”

This is not to paper over the real differences and divisions within the United States; rather, let’s acknowledge those (provided for under the First Freedom), and move forward from that starting point to try and empathize with one another and find some unity of purpose. It takes a conscious choice to refuse fear, and to pursue unity. But if we choose to see from others’ perspectives, and assume others are acting in good faith rather than bad faith, I think it would be a good start toward achieving that unity of purpose. After all, “to that high concept there can be no end save victory.”

National Museum of the Philippines

Last Saturday (Jan. 7) I went down to Intramuros, the old section of Manila (as in, 16th century old) and looked around the National Museum of the Philippines. The Museum is housed in the old legislative building where the Philippine House of Representatives and Senate met during the U.S. colonial period (1898-1946). Where beautiful art now hangs, Philippine leaders crafted a constitution in 1935 which led to the Philippines' independence as a republic in 1946, and that constitution held until Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and established a dictatorship in 1972.

Here are some of the treasures from the National Museum:

This is a sculpture by the great Filipino patriot, poet, doctor, Renaissance man Jose Rizal, whose novels Noli Me Tangere (1887) and El Filibusterismo (1891) were the backbone of Philippine nationalism. Rizal was executed by the Spanish for subversion in 1897, but he remains the national hero of the Philippines. The sculpture, "The Mother's Revenge" (1894), depicts a dog attacking the crocodile who has taken her pups.

In the old House chamber hangs one of the masterpieces of Filipino art, Juan Luna's Spoliarium (1884), which won the first prize at the National Exposition in Madrid that year, heralding Filipinos as having "arrived" in the Spanish art scene. Juan Luna had an illustrious career in Spain, and several of his major works remain in Spain. The painting depicts the area of the Roman circus where gladiators are disarmed and disrobed.

A place of shame and defeat, it makes me think of the passage in Hebrews where the writer reminds us that "Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come" (Hebrews 13:12-14, ESV).

Luna spent much of his career in Europe, including in France. I enjoy the expression on the face of this sleeper from Domestic Scenes in Paris, ca. 1887-92. Looks like me when I have to get up:

Later in his career, Luna turned to social realism, and produced works depicting life in Asia as well as in Europe. I love this piece in particular for its isolation. (Philippine Scenes, 1894/5)



Fittingly, this watercolor is the first depiction of the Philippine national flag, and the last work of Luna (ca. March 1899), when he was in Europe working as a diplomat for the Philippine Republic, which declared its independence from Spain in 1898 and which the United States fought from 1899-1902. This bloody war (which occasioned Rudyard Kipling's famous "White Man's Burden" poem) is often forgotten in the United States, but not in the Philippines.

Now some more recent works: this sculpture from 1949 is entitled "Plea for Freedom from Fear," referring to FDR's famous 1941 speech (the sculptor is Fermin Gomez). The work shows the raw emotion and pain of a nation destroyed and scarred by the Second World War. By 1949, a Communist insurgency (the Huks), dating from anti-Japanese guerrilla forces, was also engulfing the main island of Luzon.

These striking, modernist wall-sized paintings were in the cafeteria for the International Rice Research Institute, a Rockefeller and Ford Foundation-funded think tank set up in the 1960 here in Manila. The paintings show Philippine life, as depicted by Vicente Manansala, one of the great 20th century Filipino painters.

Finally, just because of the nature of my work on anticolonialism and internationalism, I was drawn to the title of this piece (I can't say I care for the painting itself, though): Third World (1981), by Papo de Asis.

I didn't even make it through the entire museum. It holds lots of treasures! Here is the building, in the sunset as I was leaving:

And the memorial to Jose Rizal at the site of his execution in 1897, in nearby Rizal Park:

For your viewing pleasure, the greatest of guides to any city or art museum: Sister Wendy.




*Sorry for the weird size issues with the text. I'm still figuring it out.

Mabuhay!

(Mabuhay means welcome in Tagalog, the main language of Luzon, of which Manila is the main city. That’s pretty much all the Tagalog I know. Check back with me later.)

Well, after about 24 hours of air travel, I made it to Manila in the Philippines on January 4. Friend-of-a-friend (and now just a friend!) Ramon Dimacali was incredibly generous to host me in Makati, a pretty affluent area of Manila, for my first week while I got over jetlag and readjusted. (If you’re looking for insurance in the Philippines, you can’t go wrong with his FPG Insurance: http://fpgins.com/ph; he’s a really savvy businessman.)

Moreover, Mr. Dimacali provided an invaluable connection to the family of Carlos P. Romulo (CPR), the politician whom I am studying here. So, last Thursday, I got to meet Roberto Romulo, the son of CPR—and a fascinating figure in his own right. The former head of IBM in the Philippines, Mr. Romulo then served as the Philippines’ ambassador to the European Community (now the European Union) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Mr. Romulo provided helpful insight into CPR as a man and a father—perspective you don’t usually get from archival documents.

With Mr. Roberto Romulo (on the right, in case you don't know what I look like).

I also got to meet Mr. Romulo’s daughter Liana, who is responsible for taking care of CPR’s papers and created the wonderful content about CPR at the Carlos Romulo Foundation website (http://carlospromulo.org/). She also curated an amazing set of photographs to decorate Romulo’s Café in Makati, a delightful restaurant which she showed me around after lunch with her dad. If you’re in Manila, be sure to check it out!

I’ll have more in the coming days on museums in Manila, as well as where I’m working (the University of the Philippines). Until then, here is some footage of CPR on a 1955 TV program very different from what passes for news these days.