Look at history! Being stubborn is perhaps perceived as more of a virtue than a vice in Vietnam: people were stubborn with the Americans 30 years ago, with the French 50 years ago…
Look at history! Being stubborn is perhaps perceived as more of a virtue than a vice in Vietnam: people were stubborn with the Americans 30 years ago, with the French 50 years ago, with the Chinese goodness knows how many times over the last 1,000 years. The Vietnamese are rightly proud of their unparalleled record of resistance to foreign domination, and naturally remain rather sensitive on this point: as a foreigner, giving orders to a local can require some cultural sensitivity – particularly if you actually want them to do as you say!
Do be advised that a Vietnamese will only very rarely show disagreement by confrontational means or even with a straight “no”. Nine times out of ten, he/she will say “yes”, along with one of those lovely smiles we were just discussing, and then just not do it: it’s as simple as that. Do learn from the experts: when you’re bursting to say “no way, pal!” bite your tongue, smile and say “ye-e-s”. Culturally, it’s rarely a good move to say “no” right off the bat. Your opening gambit is “yes”, leaving you plenty of time to make up some excuse, forget all about it, or simply do the opposite.
