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Minh Vuong

Professor Pham

Writing 2

20 September 2023

Preserve Vietnamese culture during globalization.

Every country has its own national identity and traditional values - vital importance that

helps unite and develop a nation. Four thousand years of development and defense helped shape

and enrich Vietnam's traditional values. However, as globalization moves to Vietnam, many seek

the new dazzling culture that has overshadowed or even replaced the local culture. On the other

hand, globalization directly or indirectly causes the continuity of Vietnamese culture for future

generations, the origin of the language, and cyber security.

According to Henlen Spencer-Oatey, in What is culture?, when arguing the relation of

culture and nation, she concluded, "The culture, or cultures, that exist within the boundaries of a

nation-state certainly influence the regulations that a nation develops."(Spencer, 22) There are

hundreds of various definitions of culture around the world; however, by examining today's

prevalent cultural definition, the following explanation of culture throughout this essay can be

seen as "the system of material and spiritual values created and accumulated by humans through

the process of practical activities, in the interaction between humans and the natural and social

environment." Therefore, it is obvious that culture represents society's development level in

different historical periods. Vietnamese people are proud of their living style of love and

gratitude as traditional cultural values. Vietnamese people's attitudes and behaviors from ancient

times to the present seem to be heavily influenced by the sentimental philosophy, which appears

to be firmly ingrained in the blood and thinking of Vietnamese people. However, due to
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globalization, the Vietnamese people's way of life, culture, and even language are undergoing

significant changes. Globalization, both directly and indirectly, causes the vanishing of

Vietnamese culture, language, and traditional lifestyle by promoting foreign-favored culture and

assimilation of dominion countries or spreading hate speech.

The primary result of globalization for Vietnamese people is that their way of life is

currently undergoing significant changes. A Western civilization's novel ideas about life values

and lifestyles can damage Vietnamese traditional culture and life values. Western lifestyle, with

multiple aspects that impact young people's conception of life, is more "open," liberal, and even

hysterical, disdaining old morals, cultural norms, and familial ties. Perhaps never before have

Vietnamese people, especially young people, given physical benefits as much consideration as

they do now. As traditional cultural values, Vietnamese people are always proud of an attitude of

respect and affection. Sentimental philosophy in Vietnamese culture affects people's views,

conduct, and actions. Vietnamese lifestyle is well-represented in the folk proverbs or advice from

the elders, such as: "Grasp all, lose all," and "The leaves protect tattered ones," Materialism and

a selfish lifestyle have turned an emotional nation into a nation that is willing to risk everything

to satisfy personal needs. According to the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security, on the “annual

criminial report in Vietnam '' the crime rate in Vietnam 2022 increased by approximately 5,000

cases since 2019, around 55%, and Property theft accounts for 35%. In the newspapers, murders

and robberies are reported every day. There is no longer a singular expression; instead, it

permeates the entire S-shaped stretch of land, with a lengthy history found everywhere.

Teenagers' job decisions reflect their materialistic lifestyles. They would choose a major or

career that offers a fixed future, either wealth or power, instead of which job to serve the nation

or the people. In the article Which fields have the highest enrollment rates? The Ministry of
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Education and Training, indicated that Business and management have the highest enrollment

with 25%, while education only has 5%. As a result, the philosophy of the power of money,

which has been imported from Western culture, has made people willing to exchange friendship,

brotherhood, parental love for money, fame, and power.

Furthermore, the immediate effect of globalization is people replacing the domestic

culture with foreign culture. The introduction of Western culture has caused some Vietnamese to

abandon traditional family and national cultural values in order to advance the so-called "new,"

"modern," "civilized," and "fancy" culture. They continuously insult traditional practices,

traditions, and customs while criticizing them for being complex, burdensome, convoluted, and

old-fashioned. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of foreign favor, which honors and promotes

Western and Korean cultures while ignoring native cultural values, has negatively impacted the

nation's traditions and customs. It is still debatable when the foreign-favored culture comes to

Vietnam. Still, nowadays, everything associated with the word "foreign" is always a top pick,

including cosmetics, fashion, food, international schools, foreign hospitals, and even second-

hand objects dumped in Japanese yards. This applies to everyone, from farmers and workers to

teachers, Hollywood stars, and government officials. The apparent evidence for foreign favor is

the rate of Vietnamese students studying abroad. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of

Education and Training (MoET) data, approximately 190,000 Vietnamese students studied

abroad in the 2019-2020 academic year. In the article of ASIA FRUIT, Vietnamese fruit

struggles in the domestic market, an article comparing the Vietnamese’s fruit market. The local

pineapple is unmarketable with a price of only 12 cents each, while Taiwanese pineapple is

extinct on the market with a cost of 10 dollars each, which is really unfair for the domestic

worker. Notably, anti-domestic sentiment is also expressed in admiration for the foreigner.
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Strangely enough, when Vietnam lacks a car, motorcycle, or phone company, many people

assume that Vietnamese people are incompetent and even point the finger at the government.

However, when they do, they express doubt and criticism. For example, when Vingroup

established Vinfast and introduced it to the global market in 2017, many Vietnamese started to

compare it with other cars, such as Honda, Volvo, and Fork, with disparaging and unkind words

written all over the website. Additionally, based on Statista's preference for local or foreign

brands in Vietnam, a survey on purchasing preferences in Vietnam conducted by Statista as of

the second half of 2019, 99% of electronic consumption in Vietnam is from foreign companies.

The increasing rate of foreign favor among Vietnamese caused by globalization negatively

impacts Vietnam's economy and culture. From a sociocultural standpoint, it affects and even

threatens to undermine national identity and traditional values—"treasures'' that now require

urgent preservation, preservation, and conservation. From a financial standpoint, It hinders and

even delays the nation's economic growth and creates numerous other bad things.

Additionally, the nature of the Vietnamese language is also endangered during

globalization. Globalization makes communication between countries more accessible, but it also

creates a scenario when one country uses loanwords from other countries to replace the original

word. It is the case in Vietnam when some people always try to "insert" some second language

to satisfy sympathies while speaking, writing, or in regular conversation, and they think that to

be "fancy" and "stylish." The Vietnamese language, however, is more simply expressed,

understood by listeners, and learned by any Vietnamese person because it is their mother tongue

and the essence of the country. When discussing the negative side of replacing Vietnamese word

with a foreign language, Tram Nguyen, in her article Preserving the Beauty of the Vietnamese

Language gave an example of the word ổn áp," which mean okay in Vietnamese, the original is
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only "Ổn," but by using the word "ổn áp" gradually, people start to forget the actual word "Ổn."

She stated that it is not just an inaccurate use of words but also lowers the enrichment of the

Vietnamese language. On the grammar aspect, teenagers are adopting "teen code" from America

such as LOL (laugh out loud), ASAP (as soon as possible) in communication. It concurs that

using teen code is faster in communication, but it also has a detrimental impact on one's

language. "This trend towards informal and incorrect language usage in written communications

among the younger generation can be potentially detrimental to the preservation of proper usage

of the Vietnamese language."The author of Preserving the Beauty of the Vietnamese Language

states the issue of using teen code in Vietnamese. If people in Vietnam still continue these habits,

Vietnamese will become a language with only a dry and repetitive core. If someone wants to see

how expressive and rich Vietnamese are, they should visit the countryside and speak with ladies

over sixty. Everyone will be amazed at how sophisticated, dynamic, and adaptable their use of

the language is. Now, that group of people is slowly vanishing, resulting in the loss and oblivion

of a charming and vibrant Vietnamese language.

One hindering effect of globalization that many overlook is the propagation of false

information, offensive content, and publications at odds with the Vietnamese tradition. One of

the causes of the existence and prevalence of the aforementioned countercultural practices is the

process of globalization. Some young people occasionally find unfamiliar lifestyles "attractive"

due to globalization's ease of dissemination. Inappropriate videos are now more straightforward

to discover, access, and share on new media, allowing them to spread and negatively impact

society. In the Bloomberg article: Vietnam Weighs 3-Hour Pulldown of Some 'Toxic' Internet

Info, the author conducted an observation that it took the administration approximately 3 hours to

remove the internet junk, with up to 3200 posts in the first year quarter. More on this problem,
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the author also warned, "Fake news on the Internet, if handled slowly, will spread very widely."

In the other article: "Unhealthy Content on Cyberspace Threatens Vietnamese Users," the author

also mentions different variables of toxic content on the internet, including the posting of media

with content that encourages prostitution brokering, child sexual abuse, and other morally

repugnant behaviors, as well as books, movies, images, and music. During the vast information

distribution in the age of globalization, the public is unaware of what is good or bad. It only pays

attention to the unusual, new components of phenomena. Therefore, many people are only

susceptible to temporary trending phenomena, especially counter cultural phenomena.

Current globalization and international integration pose many challenges for Vietnam in

developing, building, preserving, and continuing the excellent culture and quintessence of the

nation. Vietnam's national identity and traditional cultural values are being slowly and steadily

destroyed by globalization. Social networking platforms promoted by globalization have

facilitated the spread of damaging information, images, and publications that are inappropriate

for the cultural exchange of the Vietnamese people. They have progressively entered Vietnamese

social life along with habits that go against good conventions and traditions. Preserving the

traditional environment, architecture, and cultural values should be a priority for everyone. This

contributes to the country's sustainable development. In particular, cultural preservation sustains

the life of the ethnic group and must be linked to the protection and promotion of cultural

identity.
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Works Cited

Nguyen, Minh-Ngoc. “Vietnam: Preference for Local or Foreign Brands by Category 2019.”

Statista, 15 Feb. 2022, www.statista.com/statistics/1110934/vietnam-preference-for-

local-or-foreign-brands-by-category

Nguyen, Quynh. “Vietnam Considers Mandate to Remove ‘Toxic’ Internet Info within 3 Hours.”

Bloomberg.Com, Bloomberg, 4 Nov. 2022, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-

04/vietnam-weighs-3-hour-pulldown-of-some-toxic-internet-info?embedded-

checkout=true.

Nguyen, Tram. “Preserving the Beauty of the Vietnamese Language.” Hansem Global, 16 Feb.

2023, www.hansemgb.com/blog/preserving-the-beauty-of-the-vietnamese-language/.

O’Callaghan, Liam. “Vietnamese Fruit Struggles on Domestic Market.” Fruitnet, 18 Apr. 2023,

www.fruitnet.com/asiafruit/vietnamese-fruit-struggles-on-domestic-market/248818

Spencer, Helen, “What Is Culture?” A Compilation of Quotations for the Intercultural ...,
December 2021
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www.researchgate.net/publication/
356831794_What_is_Culture_A_Compilation_of_Quotations_for_the_Intercultural_Fiel
d_GlobalPeople_Core_Concept_Compilation. Accessed 26 Sept. 2023.

Trong, Dat. “Unhealthy Content on Cyberspace Threatens Vietnamese Users.” VietNamNet

News, 25 Sept,2023 vietnamnet.vn/en/unhealthy-content-on-cyberspace-threatens-

vietnamese-users-747953.html#:~:text

The Ministry of Education and Training. “Which fields have the highest enrollment rates?”,
xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn, 9 Mar. 2023,

xaydungchinhsach.chinhphu.vn/nhung-linh-vuc-nao-co-ti-le-tuyen-sinh-cao-nhat-
119230309164936005.htm.