Yesterday, we first talked about other things and then she explained she has to cancel it all. You know, she said, I have been thinking, and I cant have several foreigners coming to my home in the evening, for several weeks in a row. 'Someone' will tell 'somebody' and 'they' will start investigating. They will come and ask what I am doing and what we are talking about, and it could be really bad for me.
Then, suddenly she looked even more uncomfortable and said really fast and low that we-have-to-stop-talking-about-this-topic-at-all-now-becuase-you-see-the-four-men-sitting-next-to-us-one-of-them-has-stopped-talking-and-is-only-listening-to-us-now.
The cultural police is everywhere - on the outlook for "social evil", and we even have a friend who used to be that, until he changed sides and am now a well known painter and artist, himself constantly being watched. Last month he organized a huge exhibition and got a serious visit afterwards, by a group of serious men, explaining that the art work were kind of ok, but the speach some ambassador made, about art as a bearer of innovative thoughts and freedom of expression and so, definitely wasn't.
Of course, newspapers can be critical only to a degree that suits the Party, but also news channels like CNN and BBC are run with half an hour's delay and sometimes someone pushes the red button and they go black for a while. Facebook has been closed by sensitive and understanding internet providers (too much social networking, especially since it was translated to Vietnamese and especially with too many innovative attitudes coming in from Viet-kieu, the Vietnamese living in exile).
Oficially, there is no censorship in Vietnam. Only self-sensorship. I guess that is what happended to Ms. Xxx's cultural course.
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