Vietnamese flock to new exhibit on old communist hardships

Hanoi (dpa) - By themselves, the shabby relics on display in Vietnam's Museum of Ethnology are unremarkable: a bicycle, a single egg, a bar of Camay perfumed soap.

But millions of Vietnamese remember a time, not so long ago, when such items were the height of luxury.

The museum's new exhibit on Vietnam's days of hard-line communist economy brings back memories for visitors like Bui Minh Ha, who recalled when a friend brought her a bar of scented soap from abroad. It was the early 1980s, and virtually all private businesses were banned, food was scarce and even soap was a valuable item.

"In the end, we sold the soap to buy food," said Ha, now 44. "And we continued to use stones to rub away the dirt on our clothes and bodies."

Standing beside her in the museum, Ha's two daughters' eyes widened at their mother's story. Ages 23 and 16, they wear blue jeans, have double-pierced ears and carry mobile phones. They have no memory of the time that Vietnamese call the "bao cap" (subsidy) era.

"They may think this is just a fairy tale, but now they can see it's true," Ha said.

And that, in short, is one of the reasons Ha and her daughters have come out to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology to see the surprise hit of the summer, an exhibit called "Hanoi Life under the Subsidy Economy 1975-1986."

Vietnam's economic transformation in recent years has been so rapid that the items on display seem like antiquities from a bygone age - even though most are only about 20 years old.

The exhibit, which opened in June and runs through December, features recreation of general stores filled with dreary state-made goods - complete with ration coupons and mannequins standing in line.

For most of those who lived through the hard times, the exhibit is a reminder of how far they've come. For their children, raised during the "doi moi" (renewal) economic reforms, it's a window into a world they've only heard about. With the economy growing at an average 7 per cent each year and more than half of Vietnam too young to remember the hardships of the post-war economy, the ethnology museum set out to bridge the generation gap with its exhibit, according to curator Nguyen Van Huy.

"The younger generation who did not live in the subsidy economy can hardly understand how their parents lived," said Huy. "So our approach is to look at that time through the eyes of ordinary people."

Response has been overwhelming. On weekends, about 2,000 visitors - about five times the usual attendance - pack into the museum. The parking lot overflows with motorcycles and even private cars, which are so new in Vietnam that the museum had to create a special parking place for them.

"Those are the rich people who bring their children to tell them about their life in the past," Huy said.

The exhibit brings out strong emotions; tears are not unusual.

Individual items like a small vial of MSG food seasoning or a pair of rubber sandals are displayed next to videos and text displays of older Vietnamese recalling what the items meant to them in the time of hardship.

"In those days, our biggest dreams were just about spoons of rice and pieces of cloth," reads one quote.

"Hanoi Life" also is one of the most frank examinations of the Communist Party's mistakes in handling the economy after the communist north defeated the US-backed south, ending the Vietnam War in 1975. Following strict communist ideals of collectivism and state control of goods, the economy foundered and deprivation was fierce.

Placards next to one of exhibits acknowledge that management of the economy was "inappropriate" and another observes that "Bao cap was a period during which both the courage and intelligence of millions of people were suppressed."

Huy, the curator, said he had no problems getting government approval for the exhibit.

"That's the result of doi moi. We don't have the subsidy mentality anymore," Huy said. "We don't have to give just one side. We want people to see, watch, listen and draw their own conclusions."

One conclusion often drawn by both the older and younger generations is that the subsidy days, while hard, had a spirit of cooperation and simplicity that has been pushed to the side in Vietnam's mad rush to join the global economy.

Mai Quynh Anh, Ha's 23-year-old daughter who works at an import-export company, said there is a strange appeal in the reminiscences of the exhibit and in her mother's voice.

"It's hard to imagine such a hard life - no money, just coupons for basic goods," Anh said. "But it was simple. You didn't have to think much about money like now."

Her mother agreed, to a point.

"Life then was more satisfying in a way back then," Ha allowed. "We didn't pay much attention to material things then because no one had them."

So, would Ha turn back the clock and take her daughters back to the subsidy days?

"Of course not!" she laughed. "It was really a nightmare time. I don't know how we ever coped."

Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH