Proving that (a) Ho Chi Minh is still an explosive issue, and (b) Nguoi Viet still hasn’t learned, the newspaper got into hot water all over again for printing a big full-color photograph of the late North Vietnamese leader in its Monday issue.
The photograph is a well-known propaganda picture. The story goes that anti-American fighters in South Vietnam sent a “vu sua” plant — indigenous to the South — to Ho Chi Minh, and “Uncle Ho,” in his infinite love for the people of the South, took great care of that gift, watering it every day in his pajamas.
That’s him watering the plant, to the left. To the right is a man whose land had been confiscated by the communist government, standing in front of a statue of Lenin in Hanoi.
These photos of Ho Chi Minh and Lenin have provided fresh ammunition to people who think Nguoi Viet is a front for communist activities. That Nguoi Viet is full of communist agents. That Nguoi Viet is part of communist infiltration in the United States. Yada yada yada. Trong Doan and Ky Ngo are having a field day!
The story is entitled “I came to pay respect to the Uncle’s tomb.” It’s meant to be a satire – that people who come to Hanoi now are not visiting the revolution leader’s resting place but are seeking redress for injustice.
But hey, it’s not the first time that tempers flare over a picture without regard to the accompanying text! (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge – here)
Oh yeah, and the date of the edition? Monday May 19.
Which is an official holiday in Vietnam, because it is - get this – Ho Chi Minh’s birthday!
Yes, they say timing is everything!
Query: If Nguoi Viet can print Ho Chi Minh’s photo, why can’t Irvine Valley College fly the red-and-yellow-star flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam?
What the Bolsavik is hearing is that certain people at Nguoi Viet are very busy pointing fingers at each other right now.
Bolsavik: Since you are not longer working at Nguoi Viet, how do you know it was not intentional to celebrate Ho fox birthday? If they are communist, they don’t tell you, they just celebrate Ho fox birthday.
You know it means to be a satire so there is no big deal at all. Displaying the communist flag permanently at school is totally different from showing a photo of HCM in a news article. The latter is for illustration purpose only. For example, when you run a piece on a crowning Miss USA, do you agree that readers would expect to see a photo of the crowning queen? So, in Nguoi Viet’s latest article, the photo of HCM watering his plant is simply an illustration.
Some of you might take my reasoning to argue that a yellow in a foot spa is a good illustration, too. It’s not. It’s tasteless. And it will certainly draw protests. If Nguoi Viet have a painting of HCM eating shit (yes, literally shit), I’m sure the government of Vietnam will protest.
So, one has to be careful when using illustrations.
to HCM: a yellow food spa ” is absolutely IS NOT an illustration. It is a piece of art . The story is next to the the art is a illustration . May be, in your opinion, this piece is tasteless , but one more time, this is ART itself . So one has to be careful when distinguishing which one is an illustration and which one is an art .
By the way, are you real HCM? that person was used to be my best friend.
you call that ugly foot spa a piece of art? i heard that she was working on her master. where on earch do we find a so bad art program? that university must have a tasteless professor who thinks that ugly piece is a piece of art. i don’t talk no sense that that art professor is a professor in art he must know more than all of us about art. there are many types of professors and this professor must be among the lowest ranked art professors. and soon his student will earn a master in stupid art …
damn, my dirty toilet looks more like a piece of art.
to HCM:
aha, now you are talking about art. “my dirty toilet looks more like a piece of art”. So, if you think your toilet is art, she has a right to think that the foot spa is art. stupid or not, I do not care. But it is art. maybe it is a BAD art. But still art.
Her art provokes people to think . Like you have to spend your time to comment and question about her art. Do you think because of her footspa , people start thinking objects around them are art, too. if this is a case, I ‘d like give her credit for that major change of mind set.
By the way, are you real HCM? if you are, i ‘d like to say “happy birthday”.
and I know for sure that her MFA thesis show will be up this 30th of May in Davis. Go and see for your self. check it out if it is better than your dirty ( not clean) toilet. free for public.
to HCM:
aha, now you are talking about art. “my dirty toilet looks more like a piece of art”. So, if you think your toilet is art, she has a right to think that the foot spa is art. stupid or not, I do not care. But it is art. maybe it is a BAD art. But still art.
Her art provokes people to think . Like you have to spend your time to comment and question about her art. Do you think because of her foot spa , people start thinking objects around them are art, too. if this is a case, I ‘d like give her credit for that major change of mind set.
By the way, are you real HCM? if you are, i ‘d like to say “happy birthday”.
and I know for sure that her MFA thesis show will be up this 30th of May in Davis. Go and see for your self. check it out if it is better than your dirty ( not clean) toilet. free for public.
to HCM again: now you are talking about ART.” my dirty toilet looks more like a piece of art”. if you consider your ( not my ) dirty ( not clean ) toilet is ART, that artist has her right to see her ( not your) foot spa is ART, too. I do not care that her ART is good or stupid or bad, but I believe it is art Just because she said it is ART.
Do you think after the footspa incident, people re- think the concept of ART? like you said, your toilet is a piece of art , too. Why not. Do you think you should give her and her BAD professors a credit that her stupid, dump ART provokes people to THINK? and talk and write about it for the recent three months.
do you think your dirty toilet could do that to the public?
By the way, I know that the artist of the foot spa is doing her thesis show in Davis. It will be up this 30th of May . If you can, you can check it for yourself. free for the public.
again: are you real of fake HCM?
to HCM : are you REAL or Fake HCM?
To Lun Ghe: you said “I believe it is art Just because she said it is ART “. I disagree with that (and I think you probably meant to say what I’m gonna say below).
I think people have the right to say they THINK something is NOT art even though the ARTIST says it’s art. However, they do NOT have the right to say the ARTIST HERSELF does not mean it to be art, but as an insult. How they hell do they know what the artist meant? They can say it’s trash, not art. But they MUST take the artist at her word, that SHE HERSELF meant it to be art, not an insult, as some people still inexplicably claim. I myself happen to think that that foot spa is a beautiful, moving piece of art, but that’s just my subjective, personal opinion. Other people have the right NOT to like it, but they do NOT have the right to put words in the artist’s mouth, or thoughts in her head, that she does NOT have (i.e., that she meant it as an insult).
To HCM: you can say that, TO YOU, that foot spa is UGLY ART, or even NOT ART at all, but again, that’s just your opinion. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? Just as, maybe to some people, you’re an UGLY piece of art that God has made, but I’m sure that to your mother, you’re the MOST BEAUTIFUL piece of art that she’s ever seen, right?
Damn. Who would do such a thing and so coincidental that the colors match. Any other piece of art has that in it? It is definitely intentional and an insult. Not Art at all. Art is suppose to promote goodness and culture and that did not.