Canon Vietnam builds kindergarten in mountainous province
Canon Vietnam builds kindergarten in mountainous province
In Nhan Dan's article "Canon Vietnam builds kindergarten in mountainous province," the author writes that through the Canon Friendship School Chain Project, which aims to "improve the learning environment for pupils in disadvantaged mountainous areas in Vietnam, the Canon-Vemba5-San Phang Cao friendship kindergarten has been built in the Khun Ha commune. Canon Vietnam's efforts demonstrate the significant role that private organizations play in shaping Vietnam's sociopolitical infrastructure. It appears that most of the developments in the highland regions in Central and Northern Vietnam have been carried out by private entities, rather than the government, which has focused on modernizing Vietnam's urban areas.
It is interesting to observe the short length of the all the articles that have been published by Nhan Dan, which proclaims itself to be "the central organ of the Communist Party of Vietnam" and the government's vessel for disseminating information. Deputy General Director of Canon Vietnam Niimura Minoru "said as children are the future owners of the country, the company has always tried its utmost to bring the best things to pupils in particular and the Vietnamese society in general," suggesting the political implications of building the kindergarten. The statement and the general action of building schools in rural areas suggests that private organizations greatly impact the course of government action and that Canon Vietnam's actions, in particular, serve as a government ploy to satisfy the Vietnamese public without allocating too many resources to improving the living conditions for people of the highlands.
Comments
I wonder if the short length of the articles is due to the fact that they are actually short or that they are the curtailed translated versions (Nhan Dan in its physical newspaper form actually has very lengthy writings). That aside, I think your observation on the use of Canon’s social work as a government ploy to outsource development work in remote areas is worth following up. While it is true that such efforts to “modernize” the highlands of Vietnam often come from private sources, how are these effort shaping and reshaping the social landscape of these regions for better and for worse? An interesting case to look at in Vietnam is the modernization of Sapa, the famous tourist’s destination in Lao Cai.
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