In the documentary, We to Me, one of the key characters, Chien, talks about the subsidy period in Vietnam (1975-1986) as being “hell” for those who lived through it and being more of a curiosity for those who did not. Also, because everyone lived in hardship, it was easier to offer help to a neighbor or a friend. Likewise, in the book that the film is based upon, The Bridge Generation: Spanning Wartime to Boomtime, several people make the same point. When a child was hungry, a neighbor offered extra food. When a student needed help on mathematics, a friend supplied it. When a family member died in the past, the neighbors and friends all helped with the mourning and funeral process, which is lengthy and elaborate. Today, some families hire helpers to support the process.
But as Vietnam moves from we to me, according to Chien, it has become harder to ask for and give help. Today, young people compete for scholarships, for the chance to work in foreign firms and for space in traffic. Individualism and independence mean people do more themselves rather than as a group. One person says, we build walls around our houses and we don’t stop to talk to the neighbors.
What does that mean for a society, to move from helping one another to doing it ourselves? Is Vietnam the only place where this could happen?