Read this news report on Vietnam from Sydney D.

In-the-News: Vietnam

Sydney D.

Vietnam currently stands as a narrow country that sits on the coast of Southeast Asia (1). Its boarders include Southern China, and has Cambodia, the Gulf of Thailand, and Laos to its west (1). Even with its small size, it is a densely populated country, with a population of 76 million in the year 2000 (1). An increase of population means that more land is cleared for agriculture but that runs into issues as the estimated amount of land that is considered useless for crops is 40% (1). This densely packed nation is considered at risk of the current pandemic, COVID-19 and has partnered with the US to help protect its citizens. On August 25th, 2021, the US representative, Kamala Harris, visited Vietnam to strengthen their “preparations for future health security threats, combating climate change, and addressing shared legacies of war” (2).

For health security, Kamala Harris announced new vaccine donations to Vietnam (2). This falls in line with the US deepening its economic ties with Vietnam, resulting in Vietnam being the US’s second largest trading partner and its “top export market worldwide” (2). Kamala Harris also announced at this visit that they’d be opening a new regional CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) office to “enhance health security corporation” (2). However, due to the omicron variant, there have been no significant announcements for the establishment of these new offices. As of December 2021, there were new restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19 variants considering passports.

The Vietnamese New Year, Tet, is approaching. This is a 5-day celebration that extends from the last day of the lunar month, around late January, to the 5th day of the new lunar month, early February (3). Being the largest and most important holiday of the year in Vietnam (3), precautions have been put in place. On December 27th, 2021, an increase of passport fees was put into place, increasing the passport security surcharge fee by $20 (4). From January 31st – February 4th , the US Mission Vietnam’s counselor offices, as well as every government office in Vietnam and are scheduled to resume normal operations on the 7th of February (5). These hour restrictions due to the Tet holiday means that any US Citizen who applies for a passport on or after January 17th wouldn’t be able to receive their passport
until after the Tet holiday (5). There still exists a way to request an emergency passport up until the 27th of January (5). Visa applications for immigrants and non-immigrants are also under the same time restrictions (5). For non-immigrant visas, visas that are approved will be sent out until the 29th of January and immigrant visa interviews can be conducted up until the 28th of January (5).

The Vietnamese celebration of the Lunar New Year, Tet, is known as ‘Festival of the First
Morning of the First Day’ (6). There are many ways in which to celebrate it that are somewhat similar to the Western culture’s celebrations on New Year’s Eve. People gather at Tet celebrations with their families and friends to drink beer and play games together (6). These celebrations could also be spent at bars and clubs and gifts could also be exchanged at these get togethers (6). Unique to Vietnam celebrations, many go to pagodas to pray for good luck in the new year (6). These pagodas are decorated with lights, flowers, and lit incense, which to my understanding is specifically for Tet celebrations (6). A tradition for Tet is to wear red, which is the color of luck, and the most popular dress is known as the ‘ao dai’ which is worn by teachers and schoolchildren, as well as office workers for the
celebration.

(1) http://www.foodbycountry.com/Spain-to-Zimbabwe-Cumulative-Index/Vietnam.html
(2) https://vietnamembassy-usa.org/news/2021/08/white-house-highlights-enhancement-us-
vietnam-comprehensive-partnership
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Vietnam
(4) https://vn.usembassy.gov/passport-fee-to-increase-on-december-27-2021/
(5) https://vn.usembassy.gov/tet-2022-holiday-schedule/
(6) https://vietnamisawesome.com/articles/vietnamese-new-year

* * *