"Colonial time" bar in Saigon reproached
The recent appearance of a bar-cafe called An Nam in Truong Dinh
Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City has upset cultural and
ideological officials who claimed that it invokes sad memories of
Vietnam under colonial times.
An Nam is the ancient name for Vietnam used during the period of
Chinese and French domination. The name was first used under Chinese
dynasties as a way of dominating the "barbarous and ill-mannered"
peoples of the southern land.
Later in French colonial times, the name was still in use and the
French disdainfully called the Vietnamese Annamites, they said.
In May, the city authorities ordered the Service of Planning and
Investment and local people's committees to proceed changing the name
of enterprises which use the name An Nam, and to not register new ones
with this name. But for unknown reasons, the bar stays untouched.
Global News Wire - June 21, 2002.
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