My nick name is TT, a Vietnamese-American, had come back to Vietnam for the Lunar New Year of 2009 and returned to the USA on Feb 04,2009.
When I checked in my luggages (10 boxes of a group of 5 people), I was informed that mine needed to be double-checked; then was ordered to come into the scanned- room. My friends and I went in and the officer there asked my friends to leave the room and signaled me for money (I thought this practice long gone). To avoid hassle with openning & repackaging those boxes (most of them food) I gave him $300,000VND; he looked at me and said that it's too little compared to my stuffs. I was so angry and ashamed with "my people" but of course I cannot denie his request. After my "payment" was made, every thing was going smoothly. I got out of that room speechless and kept on wondering myself "is that policy applied only to Vietnamese-Americans or to all people who pass by Tan Son Nhat and want to get out of the airport with a peaceful mind?" What an international airport it is! I don't think I will come back for another visit in the near future since I don't want to experience the same thing again. I need time to forget and regain my pride and respect for my people and country. Poor my Vietnamese and Vietnam!
An emotion of a Vietnamese-American at the Tan Son Nhat airp
🔗 Tue, 10 Feb 2009
— @tt at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Vietnam
My nick name is TT, a Vietnamese-American, had come back to Vietnam for the Lunar New Year of 2009 and returned to the USA on Feb 04,2009.
When I checked in my luggages (10 boxes of a group of 5 people), I was informed that mine needed to be double-checked; then was ordered to come into the scanned- room. My friends and I went in and the officer there asked my friends to leave the room and signaled me for money (I thought this practice long gone). To avoid hassle with openning & repackaging those boxes (most of them food) I gave him $300,000VND; he looked at me and said that it's too little compared to my stuffs. I was so angry and ashamed with "my people" but of course I cannot denie his request. After my "payment" was made, every thing was going smoothly. I got out of that room speechless and kept on wondering myself "is that policy applied only to Vietnamese-Americans or to all people who pass by Tan Son Nhat and want to get out of the airport with a peaceful mind?" What an international airport it is! I don't think I will come back for another visit in the near future since I don't want to experience the same thing again. I need time to forget and regain my pride and respect for my people and country. Poor my Vietnamese and Vietnam!
Shamefully,
TT