GIẢI QUYẾT VẤN ĐỀ VÀ RA QUYẾT ĐỊNH - TẬP 1 - Trang 309

name of a Vietnamese holiday dedicated to tending ancestors' graves. In
some areas of Vietnam, the dead are buried twice. They are buried the first
time for several years, until most of the flesh decomposes. Then the body is
exhumed, the bones are lovingly washed, and the clean bones are reburied in
a permanent resting place. In 1991, when this story was written, the
Vietnamese dong traded at the rate of about 14,000 dong to the US dollar. In
Vietnam, some graveyards are divided into separate areas for separate
classes of people. This custom probably stems from the belief that if one's
ancestors are not satisfied with their resting place, they might return to haunt
the family. Area A is the area for high-ranking Party members. In many
Vietnamese folk tales, Buddha plays a role equivalent to the 'fairy
godmother' of Western folktales. The name given to an ill-planned campaign
to improve irrigation networks. The name given to another campaign, this
one aimed at increasing arable land for crop production. Unfortunately,
valuable hardwood trees were cut down to make way for fields of cassava
and other crops worth a fraction of the trees' value. ‘Uncle’ here is not meant
to express actual kinship. The Vietnamese language makes wide use of
familial pronouns to express relationships of respect/disrespect,
familiarity/unfamiliarity, etc. The most famous example of this is, of
course,‘Uncle Ho'. Here,‘uncle’ simply means that Thiïët was an older male
acquaintance whom the narrator respects. Referring to China's Mao Tse
Tung. During the period when the Vietnamese regularly had to queue up to
buy state-subsidized goods, some creative entrepreneurs made money by
arriving early to get a choice spot in line, then reserving their spot with a
brick and selling it to those who came later. At the time of this story, Party
cadres were ranked on a scale from one to six, six being the highest level.
Nguyễn Trãi was a famous military leader who led a successful campaign
against the Ming dynasty in China. The Bình Ngô Đại Cáo is his
proclamation of victory. A reference to the fact that many Vietnamese who
emigrate to other countries do so in part to make money to send home to the
rest of the family. Money given in order to encourage party cadres--who are
generally pitifully underpaid-- to attend meetings. When they arrive at the