Good morning again, Vietnam! Asean was founded in the mid-1960s at the height of the Vietnam War — between the US and South Vietnam (Vietnam was then divided between a communist North and a capitalist South) on one side, and North Vietnam and its Viet Cong allies in South Vietnam on the other — not so much as an economic-oriented regional organization than a strategic one. My first encounter with the notion of Vietnam was, not surprisingly, through American war movies. “Good Morning, Vietnam” and “Forrest Gump” were more tragi-comedies. So, indeed a big good morning to Vietnam again, and also a wake-up call for the rest of us in Southeast Asia, such that we should try harder to learn about the secret to success from our hardworking Vietnamese neighbor.

Source: Manila Times May 21, 2019 18:06 UTC