Life in South Vietnam after the Communist takeover in 1975 was marked by political oppression, property confiscation, economic hardship, and deep social upheaval.
There was a popular saying at the time: “If a lamp post could walk, it would flee the country too.”
That’s how bad it was, in a nutshell.
Let me expand — just a little.
The new government imprisoned former officials and military personnel in so-called “re-education camps,” a polite term for what were, in truth, prison gulags. It imposed collectivized farming that led to widespread food shortages and placed tight controls on religion, the press, and free expression. Private property was seized and handed over to Communist party loyalists. The state ran the economy, and private business became illegal.
These policies created an atmosphere of fear and mistrust, driving living standards into free fall. In desperation, hundreds of thousands took to the sea in small, fragile boats — the “boat people” — risking everything in search of freedom. Many perished on the open water, but many others reached the shores of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Hong Kong, and were eventually resettled in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, and Japan.
So please — don’t ask a Vietnamese person that question lightly. To Southerners, it reopens wounds that never fully healed. To Northerners, many will either say they were too young to know, or repeat the official narrative — that the South’s 19 million people were “liberated” from being American puppets. Either way, it’s uncomfortable territory.
I am an attorney in the Washington DC area, with a Doctor of Law in the US, attended the master program at the National School of Administration of Việt Nam, and graduated from Sài Gòn University Law School. I aso studied philosophy at the School of Letters in Sài Gòn.
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I have worked as an anti-trust attorney for Federal Trade Commission and a litigator for a fortune-100 telecom company in Washington DC.
I have taught law courses for legal professionals in Việt Nam and still counsel VN government agencies on legal matters.
I have founded and managed businesses for me and my family, both law and non-law.
I have published many articles on national newspapers and radio stations in Việt Nam.
In 1989 I was one of the founding members of US-VN Trade Council, working to re-establish US-VN relationship.
Since the early 90's, I have established and managed VNFORUM and VNBIZ forum on VN-related matters; these forums are the subject of a PhD thesis by Dr. Caroline Valverde at UC-Berkeley and her book Transnationalizing Viet Nam.
I translate poetry and my translation of "A Request at Đồng Lộc Cemetery" is now engraved on a stone memorial at Đồng Lộc National Shrine in VN.
I study and teach the Bible and Buddhism. In 2009 I founded and still manage dotchuoinon.com on positive thinking and two other blogs on Buddhism.
In 2015 a group of friends and I founded website CVD - Conversations on Vietnam Development (cvdvn.net).
I study the art of leadership with many friends who are religious, business and government leaders from many countries.
I have written these books, published by Phu Nu Publishing House in Hanoi:
"Positive Thinking to Change Your Life", in Vietnamese (TƯ DUY TÍCH CỰC Thay Đổi Cuộc Sống) (Oct. 2011)
"10 Core Values for Success" (10 Giá trị cốt lõi của thành công) (Dec. 2013)
"Live a Life Worth Living" (Sống Một Cuộc Đời Đáng Sống) (Oct. 2023)
I practice Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi for health, and play guitar as a hobby, usually accompanying my wife Trần Lê Túy Phượng, aka singer Linh Phượng.
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CVD 