Vietnamese General Information

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The People

Name of Country Vietnam

Population 83 million (July 2005 estimate)

Government Communist state

Ethnic Groups Ethnic Vietnamese constitute 85-90% of the population. A small section of the population are Chinese and there are also a range of other small ethnic groups such as Muong, Tai, Meo, Khmer, Man and Cham.

Religions While Buddhism is the religion most practised, others include: Taoism, Christianity, Indigenous belief systems and Islam.

Languages The official language is Vietnamese but Chinese, English, French, Khmer and some tribal languages are also spoken.

Background

The Vietnamese are believed to have originated from minority ethnic groups in Southern China who moved south in times of repression. The Han Chinese established a military garrison in northern Vietnam in 214 BCE and a century later most of present-day northern Vietnam was annexed as the Chinese province of Giao Chi. Vietnam attained its independence from the Chinese in 939 CE.

Christian missionary activity, particularly by the French in the 17th century, resulted in the development of a sizeable Catholic community. Religious persecution provided France with a pretext to invade and by 1867 the French had conquered all of Southern Vietnam and controlled the country under a single governor-general.

In 1940 the Japanese occupied Vietnam, ousting the French, but surrendered to the Allies in 1945. Under the Potsdam Agreement between the USA, Britain and the Soviet Union, Vietnam was divided into two zones, the North occupied by Chinese troops and the South by the British. While the Chinese government recognised the Hanoi government in the North, the British re-armed the French who took control of Saigon in the South. US economic and military aid to South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to support the French government.

The Vietnam War between the North Vietnamese Communist forces under Ho Chi Minh and the Allied forces of France, USA, Australia, etc. resulted in a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Two years later North Vietnamese forces secured the south.

Economic reconstruction of a reunited country has proven difficult. Vietnam is a poor, densely populated country that has had to recover from the ravages of war, the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc and the rigidities of a centrally planned economy. Communist leaders have initiated policies to facilitate the establishment of a free market.

History of Migration to Australia

In April 1975, the fall of Saigon ended the Vietnam war. Vietnamese refugees began to arrive in neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The Vietnam War constituted Australia's longest involvement in a war. The Australian troops in Vietnam steadily increased in the years 1965-1967. The last of the Australian troops began withdrawing from early 1973.

In 1977 the Australian government responded to the Vietnamese refugee crisis by announcing the following policy initiatives:

1. Australia would fully recognise its humanitarian commitment and responsibility to admit refugees for resettlement.
   
   
2. The decision to accept refugees would always remain with the government of Australia.
   
   
3. Special assistance would need to be provided for resettlement in Australia.
   
   
4. The Australian government would continue to make an annual contribution to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

The first refugees in Australia were children who were adopted by Australian families. In 1976 there were some 2,500 people born in Vietnam living in Australia. Between 1975 and 1994 over 112,000 Vietnamese refugees were accepted for settlement in Australia. 'Boat people' first arrived in 1976 and their arrivals numbered some 2,000 over the following five years. The refugee intake for Vietnamese has since reduced, but there has been an increase in family reunion migration.

In June 1979 a significant number of refugees arrived from Vietnam, largely as a result of the Vietnamese Communist government policy of expelling ethnic Chinese. In March 1982 the Vietnamese and Australian governments agreed to implement the Family Reunion Migration program.

Around one quarter of migrants born in Vietnam arrived in Australia respectively before 1981 and after 1991, with the other half arriving in the period 1981-1991. The average annual growth rate of the Vietnam born population in NSW has fallen from 9% in the late 1980s to 5% since 1990.

Many Vietnamese people in Australia see themselves as 'refugees' even though many have come as migrants under the family reunion category. In addition, there continues to be a relatively high incidence of mental illness in the Vietnamese community due to the traumatic experiences of living in Vietnam (torture and persecution) and trying to flee from Vietnam (rape and killings). Many Vietnamese people have, at best, an uneasy relationship with their government. Even today some Vietnamese people believe they cannot go back to Vietnam as they fear they would be arrested.

The migration process also resulted in a breakdown of traditional extended family structure. Most Vietnamese families in Australia now live in a nuclear family structure. In addition, as with many migrant communities, there can be conflict between first and second generation migrants. There are also a significant number of Vietnamese people who have no family in Australia and therefore no family supports.

Vietnamese Community in NSW

Approximately 63,000 people or 1% of the NSW population were born in Vietnam.

• 67,902 people or 1.1% of the population speak Vietnamese, which is the 5th largest non-English speaking language group in NSW.
• 25% of all Buddhists in NSW were born in Vietnam.
• Almost 20% of Vietnamese born people identify as Catholic.

(2001 Census)

Some Cultural Aspects of Vietnamese Life

Before the late 1800s, nearly all the people of Vietnam lived in villages cultivating rice, the principal economic activity. The basic component of rural society was generally a nuclear family unit, made up of parents and unmarried children. As in China, extended family relationships were also considered very important and in many cases extended families lived together. Parents in rural communities arranged the marriages of their children and children were expected to be obedient to their parents: children were taught to listen and not to speak. Wives were also expected to obey their husbands. Families venerated their ancestors with special religious rituals.

The French occupation introduced new opportunities for rich Vietnamese to attend French schools and absorb aspects of another culture into their own. The trend toward adopting Western values continued in South Vietnam, but in the North, social ethics were defined by Communist principles adapted from China and the Soviet Union based on the political theories of Marx and Lenin. After reunification in 1975, the Communist education system, which trained people for participation in a Communist society, was extended throughout the country.

The Communist government officially recognised equality of the sexes and women began to obtain employment in professions previously dominated by men. Younger generations increasingly resisted the tradition of arranged marriages and traditional gender roles. At the same time, the government began enforcing a more puritanical lifestyle as a means to counter the 'decadent practices' of Western society. In the countryside, however, traditional Vietnamese family values remain strong and the concept of male superiority remains common.

Despite communist rule, Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism (Taoism) continue to be popular. Today, the majority of Vietnamese are at least nominally Mahayana Buddhists.

In 1986 the Vietnamese government adopted an economic reform program based on some free-market principles and encouraged foreign investment and tourism. As a result, Vietnamese people have become increasingly acquainted with and influenced by Western lifestyles.

Attitudes towards People with Disability

Traditionally there are many ways of explaining ill health and disability. Many of those explanations lie in the supernatural and spiritual realm.

Buddhism has a great influence on the thinking and behaviour of Vietnamese people. People believe that to some degree they reap today what they have sown in the past. The belief in re-birth means many people believe that their present life is a reflection of actions in a previous life. Thus many consider disability a punishment or payment for actions in a previous life. Viewed in this light there is a lot of stigma attached to having a disability.

Nhan
Nhan is a Vietnamese teenager with intellectual disability who lives with his family. He works in supported employment. His parents control his finances and he is never allowed to mingle with anyone except very close family members.

Nhan wants to go with his colleagues and have fun and meet other people, but his parents do not allow this. Although he wants to go out very much, he does not want to disobey his parents.

On the other hand, some Vietnamese believe that people 'choose' their lives at birth and therefore choose the learning they need to do in this life. In terms of this learning, having a disability is then seen as 'doing right' what has been 'done wrong' before. Therefore having a disability is not punishment but learning.

While there are strong community ties, families are generally seen as responsible for each other and for providing the necessary support and care. As the family unit is the centre of society, providing all supports and welfare, it is often seen as the only place of safety. 'Family' mean extended family, including grandparents, parents and children.

Many Vietnamese people know little about the Australian welfare system and many do not know what services are available. Some people have difficulty with the English language and may be more closely connected to their community. In Vietnam the few services that are available are usually only provided to people who are members of the Communist Party. There are virtually no non-government services other than a few provided by international agencies. There is no Vietnamese equivalent to the Australian service system and people are unfamiliar with such a system.

Traditionally, asking for anything or complaining about the lack or quality of service is not done in the Vietnamese culture. Disclosure of difficulties and problems outside the family is seen as losing face and honour. Personal failure or misfortune is seen as the failure of the whole family and having a 'good name' is seen by many as more important than material possessions.

There may also be some hesitation in accessing services, partly due to the shame attached to the disability and partly due to a sense that service providers may not be able to deal with the cultural and linguistic issues. Traditionally there is also no understanding of or trust in western medicine. Many people therefore use traditional methods of healing exclusively, or in combination with western medicine.

Thao
Thao is a young woman with mental health issues. She was one of those Vietnamese refugees who came to Australia by boat to escape the war. She has no relatives here but is being supported by an old lady with whom she developed a friendship during their journey coming to Australia. She works in a supported employment and her co-workers tease her a lot because she can not speak English well.

In addition, there may be high levels of unfamiliarity with the Australian service system and some hesitation in accessing services, partly due to the shame attached to the disability and partly due to a sense that service providers may not be able to deal with the cultural and linguistic issues.

>Some Vietnamese Cultural Practices and their Implications for Service Providers

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