Teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, 3
It was 6:30am on Sunday. Two elderly Chinese couples sat at a table eating breakfast in the second-floor restaurant of Hotel Vissai. I heard one of the women speaking in English to a waiter....
Tagged: Southeast Asia
Teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, 2
It was 8:30am on Wednesday, the next morning. I entered the dining room on the 2nd floor of the Hotel Vissai Saigon. I didn’t feel rested, but I felt eager to go downtown again....
Teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, 1
I arrived at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam, at 10:00am on a Tuesday. The AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur to the Vietnamese metropolis had...
Labor Reform in Vietnam
In Vietnam, the workers who toil in the factories driving the nation’s rapid economic ascent belong to a single labor union: Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, or VGCL. As the only labor union in...
Vietnam’s Fading Free Trade Hopes
The prospects for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, in the United States do not look good, and Vietnam’s leaders are not happy. An expected rejection of the ambitious free trade accord by the U.S....
College Student, Part II
“I think Kobe will make it,” said Gia. “He goes to class every day. He completes his homework every night.” Then she spoke in Bisaya, turning toward the taxi driver, who maneuvered his three-wheeled...
Myanmar and Chinese Money
Myanmar’s new leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, finds herself at a critical juncture. As head of the nation’s first democratic government since the military seized power in 1962, she now has the chance to bring...
Indonesia Checks China’s Advances
Last Tuesday, August 16, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo appeared before the nation’s parliament in the capital, Jakarta, to deliver two speeches. It was one day before the nation’s annual holiday to celebrate independence from...
Xi Jinping’s Existential Crisis
Chinese President Xi Jinping is fighting a war he can’t afford to lose. If he fails to address emerging challenges to his authority, the future of the communist regime could be at risk. But...
Tsai Ing-wen Takes Over in Taiwan
The Republic of China, or Taiwan, was established in 1949 on an island 100 miles off the coast of China and has flourished because of the flexible diplomacy of its leaders. They have accepted...