Vietnam
The Vietnamese are pragmatic
people but somewhat shy and reserved and public
displays of affection are frowned upon. Much to
the dismay of the government, the young within
the main cities are starting to adopt western
attitudes to displays of affections, eg. kissing,
hugging and holding hands in public. They do not
like to be touched by people they do not know, so
a friendly slap on the back, a hand on the
shoulder or any similar gesture is not acceptable
and doubly so for Vietnamese women.
The people have pride in
their country and are quite proud of their
country's achievements. They are aware their
country is poor but they are striving hard to
catch up to the wealth of their regional
neighbours. Generally the people look to the
future and do not hold on to the past. This is
demonstrated by the lack of open resentment to
foreigners about the past misdeeds during the
American (Vietnam) war.
Similar to many Asian
cultures, the Vietnamese dread a "loss of
face". This means public embarrassment,
public exposure in the failure to do some task,
pitying by others, etc. To cause a "loss of
face" is also bad for the person causing it
as that person has shown the poorest social
etiquette possible and will be pitied for
demonstrating such terrible behaviour.
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