About Love

Group meeting today was a discussion on the subject of love.

presented by Thuy and My

This was an interesting subject, we discussed about what love is, and how much would you sacrifice for love. What is the nature of love in relationships. Does love conquer all, or is it more than just feelings. How important are other considerations or factors outside of feelings, such as family , money.

It was discussed that in the ideal world, love conquers all. But we do not live in an ideal world, and there are other considerations to look into. Such is the importance of practicality in love. During the discussion, it seems as though being in a relationship in Vietnam is not something like a big issue like that in Singapore, with some students shunning away from the admittance of having a relationship. In Singapore, and from my personal experience, it is quite pressurizing , be it from friends or family, to be in a relationship, the dating game was seen as the "in" thing in Singapore. This is not the case in Vietnam, maybe it could be due to the respect given towards the issue of "love" as something more than a feeling or commodity. This could be because of the importance of family in Vietnamese society, developed mostly by the advent of Confucianism in the past.

Out of around 10 students present, only 1 of them was in a relationship, and only 1 of them had a relationship in the past. Given their average age of 19 years, this is quite a staggering statistics and shows that relationships and practicality may by of great importance in Vietnam. This could also be because of the social status of many Vietnamese, money being an issue of an important consideration. As Vietnam is still in a developing stage, many people have to work very hard to make ends meet. Thus, in a relationship, love could be seen as a way out of poverty, or as an important consideration along with income level. This could explain the trend of Vietnamese brides and the low statistics of relationships between Vietnamese couples.

This point was further reiterated by a performance of a "redone" play of "Romeo and Juliet" on the context of Vietnamese society, in which a girl found a guy with an Iphone, decided to marry him for his money, and the guy using money as a tool to get a wife. When the girl dies, the guy simply gets his money back and moves on to find another wife. This has many implications of the values of love among Vietnamese. The issue of love and money as an important consideration among certain Vietnamese

Some pictures on the session :
A scene from the Vietnamese version of the play "Romeo and Juliet"
During group discussions
Presenters My and Thuy

Some of the many members who turned up

Daniel Foo

LOVE ALL AROUND!!!

This is what My and Thuy proclaimed when they started off their first presentation tonight. Of course, they were more interested in Boy-Girls relationship, even though claiming that parents love for their children is the first love that everyone experienced : )

It was funny how they show a Nokia commercial where the 2 stars fall in love with each other because of a Nokia headphone??? They called the commercial funny, and all the rest agreed so too. I thought they were going to say something about the commercialization of love, like talked about how love is measured by more and more people as the providing of material goods.

Told them they have to save more just than “ funny, strange”. When comments were asked to be given, I always get this 2 words from everyone. I feel so tired having to keep encouraging them to say more or to and to develop their ideas further. I really hope to help them improve their English, and I am glad I have been patient with them. I do not want to scare them off by appearing bored or irritated

Then the meeting turned “funny” quoting the favourite word of the club members. There was a rendition of “Vietnamese Romeo and Juliet”. Juliet fell in love with Romeo course Romeo had the latest I phone which Juliet’s mum refused to get for her. It might be nonsensical at first sight, but actually it was a comical show on how realism and practicality is more important than love in Vietnam now? Unfortunately, Juliet died in an accident and passed away. Romeo came back to retrieve the I phone so as to use it to court other girls. Was really surprised that most of the girls agreed that Romeo is smart in doing so.. I am like.. hmm? What are they actually thinking of?
-shi lei