Reevaluating Assumptions

When I was fourteen, we were assigned To Kill a Mockingbird for my Language Arts class. One of the most known quotes from this book: “You never really understand a person, until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” said by Atticus Finch. This was something Finch said to his daughter, Scout, telling her never to assume or to judge, and it’s a belief that I take to heart, trying my best to keep an open mind before forming judgements or conclusions. This trip to Vietnam has really forced me reevaluate my perspective about people living in other places, Vietnam specifically, and the assumptions that I have made without even having stepped foot into the country.

A key example that jumps to mind occurred during the trek up to the village in Sapa, where a conversation with the guide led to her explaining to us the various tribes in that area. She talks about a minority tribe that lives in isolation deep in the mountains, choosing to stay there with limited communication with the outside world because of the treacherous roads between their village and town, and because of the language barrier they have with the rest of Sapa. Immediately, I thoughtlessly remarked “I didn’t know people could still live in isolation in our day and age.” I thought about that one final examination paper that asked if people could avoid globalization, and right up to the trek with our guide, my answer was no. I believed that technology and the interconnectivity between people is so prevalent that no group of people could avoid it, even if they wanted to. Yet, here it was – a whole tribe forced not even by desire but by circumstances to live in the mountains, isolated from the rest of Sapa and the world. My groupmate had called me out, asking me to check my privilege, and he was right. Assuming that technology is so widespread that no one could or would want to live without it is a mindset that I had because I am privileged enough to have access to so much technology that my life depended on it, to the extent where I truly believe that without technology I would not survive. I mulled over this quite some time into the trek. I was, frankly, quite jolted and forced to reevaluate the things that I thought I knew about Sapa and the rest of the world.

While the abovementioned incident is the strongest example of my reevaluation of preset assumptions, it is but one of many I’ve experienced throughout the trip. With my research being about the gender roles of the Vietnamese, I went into Sapa with information from papers I read before the trip, and from interviews with the students with Hanoi University. Yet, I still found myself terribly surprised when speaking to our guide, May. Sapa is a patriarchal town where the women go out to work and control the family finances and makes big decisions. Women there work, do their house work and take care of their children, all to take care of their husbands who are happy as long as they have their wine. This was a situation I could never have imagined, even if it was a topic we have researched on before the trip, even if I was sociology student invested in gender inequality around the world. I was a jarring, yet refreshing experience, hearing something that you would have never expected, having to remind yourself that there are things you still do not know, regardless of how well read you are – an incredibly humbling experience.

It was also especially inspiring to hear from people in Vietnam who are striving to make the country a better place. Even something as small as sharing what they hear from tourists and town to the rest of their village, working hard to send their children to school, or communicating to foreigners about their cause – each and every one of these people are making a difference in their own ways. It is inspiring and humbling to see how effort from one person can make a huge difference in the long run, or to see how people take their dissatisfaction and make it into physical action that makes lives better for their children.

In my pre-trip reflection, I talk about being excited to see how the history I learnt would result in the nuances in the culture of Vietnamese people, and I was ecstatic to recognize the links between Vietnamese history and Vietnamese people. It is always very strange to see people be unabashedly patriotic to their country – through the details about their country that they remember, be it their history, their population, their size – because this is something that most Singaporeans do not have. Most Singaporeans could, perhaps, talk about Singapore with a sense of fondness, but these have nothing on the passion Vietnamese people have with they talk about their country and their institution that probably arose from the victorious history that Vietnam has, against both France and the United States. I could only wonder what it would feel like to have such a strong connection to my place of birth.

This TOPS trip to Vietnam was a trip of enlightenment, where I learnt many things. I am so appreciative of USP that allowed me

opportunity to not only go to Vietnam, but have a chance to travel to the mountains and the village and really have the chance to immerse in the Vietnamese culture, an opportunity that most could only hope for. These experiences will stay with me for life, especially as we move on to consolidate and assemble the data that we have got from Vietnam.