Re: Tru*o*`ng So*n Road ...to Mr. Tuan Pham

[AnHai Doan <anhai@cs.washington.edu>]

On Sat, 24 May 1997, Tuan Pham wrote:

> I agree that discussions are needed. But as soon as it becomes
> relevant then it becomes too politic :) There's a saying that
> a little knowledge is worse than no knowledge at all. Perhaps
> I could paraphrase it and say that a little discussion is worse than
> no discussion at all :) Let's leave it here.

Anh Tuan Pham and other folks in this thread,

When you said "as soon as it becomes relevant 
then it becomes too politic", I assume that you are talking about vnsa 
and the policy we have here about not talking politics things. 

I would like to make clear that vnsa policy about talking politics is not
a blanket policy in the sense that no political topic is allowed or that
the discussion can go only to a certain depth. It is hard to pintpoint
exactly those that are considered acceptable and those that are not,
because this depends pretty much on the contemporary situation in Vietnam. 

However, a general rule of thumb is that as long as the discussion remains
general (without calling and criticising people by names) and rational,
Straightforward, free of rhetoric and insinuations, then it is fine. 
Indeed, I agree with you that "a little discussion is worse than no
discussion at all". I also think that from time to time, timely and
controversial issues are vital for a forum to remain interesting and
intellectually stimulating. So we have no blanket rules regarding
political discussions, we simply ask you to use your best judgements
regarding vnsa situation as well as VN's contemporary situation in
deciding what to write. 

An example of what I mean by acceptable discussions, which you perhaps may
think not acceptable on vnsa: We have had a very interesting and
constructive discussion about growth and income inequality, and I think
pretty much our opinions converge: most of us agree that developing the
economy should enjoy the number-one priority at the moment. 

It is then natural to ask the next question: what should VN do to ensure a
high-growth economy? To be more specific, which development model do you
think VN should follow? I have four models in mind: South Korea, Taiwan,
Singapore, and Thailand. We could have an interesting discussion about
which economical and political lessons VN can draw from these models, as
well as which model you think VN is likely to follow (in which area). As
long as the discussion remains rational, high-quality, with "scientific"
arguments, I think it would be very interesting and constructive for many
of us.

Best, Hai.