Here come a new thread:

Being a Viet oversea, I often see native people making fun of following habbits:

Dog/cat eating
Spitting
Nose picking
Pubblic pissing
Ngoi chom hom - forget English calling - it is sitting with your butt off the ground.

These habbits are very common in Vietnam. Do you think Vietnamese at home should abandon these? Don't make me wrong, I just want to know your opinion.

No, what they do is their problem. The people of VietNam shouldn't give a damn about other peoples' opinions.

I agree with Happy. We have our own unique culture.

The public pissing part will be taken care of, once we have clean public toilets installed. At some point, we'll have to do this. Every other bad habit is minor in comparison to this.

leave everything as it is. especially public pissing. its a part of viet nam and we shouldnt be embarrassed. how else are ppl gonna know theyre in vietnam if they dont see ppl pissing on da streets? lol

these habits are of individuals, it has nothing to do with Viet culture as the whole

I never ate dog and I don't think I have ever spitted in public

It is up to your parents and how they teach you.

american spit in public all the time. they also do the nose thing where they shoot out snot. i don't think it has anything to do with culture. its just simple human actions. next thing you know, you'll tell us to stop farting in public to clean up vietnams image.

A farting championship contest in the dentist's office - I love it (as long as I am not in that dentist's office on the day and time of the contest)

lmao

hahahaha-------- pretty funny.

You need new skin. Ask Michael Jackson how he got his skin so white.

My goodness. I believe you've been mistaken these idiosyncrasies for cultures.
Those are each individual's quirks and idiosyncrasies that define each and everyone's own peculiarity and uniqueness. Unless we are all clones from one another then you might refer to them as culture. But even then, it's debatable.

Dog/Cat eating: just as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, cuisine is the same way too....in your taste bud, bud I probably don't mind when people eating them I just find it troubling of how these animals are fetched. If they are serving these delicacies, they need to come up with a farm or something.
Spitting: everybody spits. Please just don't do it in public places.
Nose picking: although I don't condone doing it in public or in the present of someone but be discreet about it.
Public kissing ? you gotta be kidding me!? I thought Vietnamese are very conservative. But I guess time may have changed. Still, showing affection in public is not as common in the East than in the West.
Ngồi chồm hổm - crouch. Everybody crounches. Tigers crounch. You gotta problem with that Mr. hidden dragon

Again, it's not a cultural things. Just one's idiosyncrasies and quirks

Spitting, Nose picking and Public pissing is not part of our culture. It's just bad habit. Sure lot of people are doing it. But did yo mama teach you not to do it in the public?!! Dog eating and ngoi chom hom is really part of our culture. About dog eating part, nothing wrong with it but I'm afraid growing globalization might threaten it. Globalization is a big threat to many indigenous cultures.

Dog/cat eating ? nothing wrong with that, it's still better than cannibalism.

Spitting in public? nothing wrong with heathy people doing that, a real concern to public health when tuberculosis infected people doing that !

Public nose picking ? nothing wrong here, although foreigners might have a second thought before shaking hands with the natives.

Public pissing and farting? nothing wrong with this, it's part of human nature, although it does nothing towards pollution control effort.

ngoi chom hom aka squatting in public? nothing wrong with that, just make sure don't wear shorts when doing that !

It's only wierd in western or white culture...

..

With the exception of Dog/cat eating, I've seen White people do all of those.

As for Ngoi chom hom, I'm not aware of any 'official' term for that but I've heard people refer to it as the "Asian squat" or "fob stand".

when they do documentaries from 3rd world nations, you see alot of people sitting that way. so why would it be categorized as an asian squat? maybe asians called it that, making fun of "fobs"

I dont care what white people do. Vietnam has its own culture.
It is correct that you dont do this or that in America if you grow up and live in America.
But to take their standard and apply it to the world is ridiculous.

Squatting position...if do correctly is very good for preventing back pain.
Spitting...vietnamese dont do that, it is the chinese that do that.
Public kissing...no comment.
Dog/cat eating...they are still animal, since when they become sacred?
Nose picking...i dont see that in public in vietnam.

Get that list right first before discuss changing our culture.

If there is thing to change, maybe getting rid of the laziness attitude of some people, getting rid of smoking, drinking. It is definitely a held-back on our personal and national progress.

you're right. Viets at home should abandon all these bad habits.

but we have to retain the "ngoi chom hom," it's purely Viet. lol.

our culture is Vietnamese, not some foreign crap. Why should Vietnam change their culture for foreigners needs. Never be embaressed of your culture.

a veitnamese restuarant was reported by the local newspaper for serving requested dog meat ..

my opinion? hmm.... it's all on the person really .. if they find it an embarrasing thing to squat in public, then it's their problem and they can always change ...