Say "No" to SBS-TV. Are our fears justified?
Trinh Nhat
On October 28th, 2003,
between 2000 and 3000 Vietnamese Australians gathered outside SBS Headquarters
at Artarmon and protested against the broadcasting of a Vietnamese news bulletin
from VTV4, a state-controlled television network in Vietnam. On watching the
protest rally, I surmise that their protest came out of fear.
Why fear? First, within the
Vietnamese community in Australia, some people still worry that communism can
infiltrate the Australian way of life which they value. Second, there is a
competition between the local media, hence the fear that the Vietnamese news
bulletin will eventually saturate the air-waves. Third, the Executive
Committees of the Vietnamese Communities in the various States of Australia fear
that their anti-Vietnam stance and influence will be eroded as a result of the
news bulletin which they consider propagandistic.
But are those fears justified? Here, I venture
to elaborate the three issues as follows:
1. It is understandable that those who
have lived under the old communist regime in Vietnam would still harbour certain
anxiety. Indeed, during the Vietnam war, there were communist sympathisers
working in the office of the President of South Vietnam. Some army generals
even worked for the communist North Vietnam. Thus, the recent history of
Vietnam teaches Vietnamese refugees to be wary of communist presence and
influence in Australia.
However, Australia is no Vietnam. The two
countries have remarkable differences in political culture. South Vietnam in
the 1970s was not a democratic society, and was run by a military junta. In
contrast, Australia is largely a democratic and non-communist society that
offers freedom of choice and freedom of speech. As long as Australia enjoys
this privilege and right, communism will never be nurtured by its citizens. In
the short history of our adopted country, communism has been present, but it has
failed, and will continue to fail. Therefore, it is time to put aside the
rhetoric against communism in Vietnam, and the dwelling on the psychological
effects of a war that is now past history.
2. I mention the competition among the
local Vietnamese media outlets, particularly the print and electronic media
(e.g., SBS radio versus commercial radio, and television broadcasts).
Competition often brings strange bedfellows, and Vietnamese TV and radio outlets
fear that their popularity may wane with the masses. As a result, they attempt
to outdo each other, sometimes to the point of being controversial. We, as
listeners, are at their mercy. Who knows? One day we may be listening to radio
broadcasts direct from Vietnam. But as consumers, we also have the choice to
switch off, and we do not want to be patronised [by those who claim to represent
us] of what is good and what is bad for us.
3.
I propose that the Vietnamese community leaders in Australia fear an
erosion of their influence. Their organisations represent the vocal minority,
who wish to run the whole of the Vietnamese community, and to force their
anti-Vietnam stance upon the community. This is a ludicrous stance. They do
not have to convert those who sought Australia as a refuge from communism,
because those people are sensible and knowledgeable enough not to be brainwashed
by propaganda. They have the freedom to think for themselves and to make
considered decisions, just as they did when they fled Vietnam.
In the protest, there were many on-site radio
interviews held, and I was interested to note some of the remarks made by those
interviewed. The remarks echoed the feelings of mistrust that a refugee
community feels against the Vietnamese government. A common thread from these
interviews is that: the majority of Vietnamese living in Australia don’t like
communism, and that they are against the news bulletin from Vietnam, because it
brings back memories of their previous suffering and of the atrocities allegedly
committed by the communists in the name of freedom. There is an argument which
goes something like they are Australian taxpayers, and they do not want their
hard-earned dollars spent on Communist propaganda programs. Some people even
harked back to alleged war crimes and atrocities dating from the 1950s, so deep
was their resentment.
Of course, those interviewees had very obvious
axes to grind, but the most disturbing aspect of the interview was that some of
those interviewed could not have reflected a true viewpoint on the matter.
Young people, aged from 11 years upward, and obviously Australian by birth,
stated that they were only told about atrocities, so that's why they protested.
Also, many had never even seen the news bulletin in question, but happily said
that it was worthless and told lies, so it wasn't worth watching! They even
went too far in saying that those who want to watch that program should return
to Vietnam to do so! If anything, those interviewees, who expressed those
ridiculous viewpoints, were probably nearer the mark than anyone else.
At the other end of the spectrum, there were
people who rang in on a Vietnamese-language SBS radio talk-back program to say
that they appreciate being given the chance to listen to the Vietnamese language
as well as to see the images of their former homeland on SBS-TV. They
added that the Vietnamese TV news bulletin is a bonus not only for themselves
but also for their children. For his part, Mr Nigel Milan, the Head of
SBS, disclosed that he had received phone calls from Vietnamese people who
expressed their thanks to the SBS Management for giving them the privilege of
viewing the ‘Thoi Su’ program.
For my part, I can understand these sentiments.
I did not know about this program until I heard about the dissent, and heard a
lot of noise made about it. For the past 30 years that I have lived in
Australia, I felt relief when I listened to the broadcast, because as a linguist
and language educator I was curious about the new usage of the language in my
country of birth. I appreciated the fact that it evoked happy memories in the
older generation and gave them an opportunity to see familiar scenery and to
hear their native language again, after so many years of being handicapped by
lack of English.
I have a personal viewpoint: I am an Australian
taxpayer too, and I have the right to live in freedom without undue fear.
Treasure it, for it is not shared by everyone in this world of ours.
Frank Trinh, MA (Hons), PhD.
Academic/Former
London-based BBC Broadcaster
Sydney, 6th November, 2003
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