http://www.reseau-asie.com/rf/co_en_27_240.html

The Chinese in Vietnam, 1975-2005 : thriving or struggling ?
The evolution of 20 Hoa families of Cholon between 1975 and 2005
· Michel DOLINSKI, Etudes de l’Extrême Orient, University of Provence (Aix en Provence)

After 1975 when the North Vietnamese troops marched into Saigon, the Chinese community as well as the whole population, had to get adapted to the new rules imposed by the winners. But the Hoa had a special fate and an important part of their group decided to flee the country. What happened to those who decided to stay ? We know that if a part of this community shrivelled up, that others quickly got adapted to the new situation, sometimes even using this new opportunities to make money. After the beginning of the Doi Moi, the Hoa of Cholon became a useful go-between for the Taiwanese companies. Today, the economic magazines often describe this community as extremely dynamic and wealthy. Our paper, based on documents as well as interviews collected in Mandarin Chinese during five research fields realised between 1995 and 2005, tries to show that at the local level, the situation is not all that bright and that a surprisingly large part of this population is still daily struggling for living.

What does this have to do with VietNam? The article makes it seem that VietNam can't live without the Hoa. They're not what's going to make VietNam wealthy. It's the overseas Viets that want to bring their business and skills back, that's will help push VN to prosperity.

The Chinese in South Vietnam should engage more in higher education because without it, or they will be left behind pretty quickly as Vietnam industrialises.

Most of the bosses of the big companies in Vietnam and even in the overseas Vietnamese community come from North Vietnam. I am saying this without a doubt.

The North Vietnamese (especially from the region of Nghe Tinh) are very hard-working and single minded. They seem to be able to work their way up to the top anywhere. I searched for a list of Vietnamese heroes throughout history, and i was very suprised when a very, very big portion of the list come from this region.

I also remembered reading somewhere before that french universities awarded a disportionate amount of scholarships to students from this region because they often excelled in french universities.

This is not Vietnam's fault. The Chinese-Vietnamese don't go to Vietnamese schools because they don't teach in the Chinese language, so they choose to just go to Chinese schools that only teach the Chinese language and no other subjects and thus they can't get into University.

I respect Chinese-Vietnamese.

the cho lon chinese are a wealthy bunch and theyre the most stuck up people in saigon hcmc

Not after what the VC did when the country was reunified. The VC definitely liberated the south's economy from people who benefited from French colonialism who had an disdain from our people.

There might be one or two individuals, but our economy is dominated by ethnic Kinh. The only country in SE Asia where they don't dominate and control the economy.

So the south Vietnamese are stupid and not succesful ?

^^of course our economy is dominated by kinhs ...after all the chinese are only a small minority in HCMC(only) .After the war ended,the ones that stayed were mostly businessmen who took advantage postwar rebuilding,and so they stayed wealthy..and in VN,money makes money and slaves born slaves .
We can only mention HCMC when we're talking bout 'dan cho lon'.They have wealth and power amongst the people of HCMC,and not just a few of them,most of them.Ask anyone in HCMC and they'll agree with me.Have u seen a chinese doing labour or any kind of degrading work in VN? ...i think ,to them, 'not being filthyrich' is struggling .

TC:

When I was in Vietnam, my parents sent me to both Vietnamese school and Chinese school. I remembered depending on my grade level, I would attend Vietnamese school in the morning and then in the afternoon, I would attend Chinese school. In other grade level, I would attend Vietnamese school in the afternoon and Chinese school in the morning.

There are two types of Chinese in Vietnam. The Chinese who consider themselves pure Chinese and the Chinese-Vietnamese who have mixed heritage. I belong to the latter group and my parents made me go to both Vietnamese and Chinese schools. Most likely, I will marry a Vietnamese wife and when we have children, my wife and I will make sure our children will understand and appreciate American, Vietnamese, and Chinese traditions, cultures, heritage, etc. This is our identity and I will make sure we pass it to our children, grandchildren, great grand children, etc.

JC:

The overseas Vietnamese consists of mostly two groups: the overseas Vietnamese group and the overseas Chinese-Vietnamese group. These two groups send money and invest money in Vietnam. Without one of these two groups, the economy would not have survived from 1975 to 1985 and would not have growned signficantly from 1986 until now.

When we take a look at the overseas Vietnamese group, many of them have Christian heritage in them. When we take a look at the overseas Chinese-Vietnamese group, many of them have Chinese heritage in them.

In this globalized and business age, Vietnam needs to study and market the economy of Vietnam to a variety of investors to make Vietnam more competitive in business environment.

I hope you understand that why Vietnam needs a variety of contribution of different people to make Vietnam an economic powerhouse in the 21st Century.

I learned something about you today