Map loses way on Ho Chi Minh trail
HANOI - Tourist officials in Hanoi are nervously awaiting their fate after
producing a map which labelled Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum,
visited daily by thousands of peasants and workers, as a zoo.
At the very least they will have to castigate themselves, in the
traditional communist manner.
The mausoleum, a revered shrine to the Vietnamese national
hero, is several miles from the city zoo and it is unclear how the
error occurred: officials say it resulted from confusion about
modern printing methods.
Vo Van Thang, deputy chief of the city tourism department's
inspection unit, said: "It was purely a technical fault which had
nothing to do with politics."
The incident has been referred to Hanoi people's committee, the
local authority.
"We have to have a self criticism meeting in our depart ment,"
Mr Vo said. "We are also awaiting the response of the people's
committee ... If there were mistakes then there will be
punishment."
The map was intended for tourist agencies in the city, but the
mistake was spotted in time and 16,000 copies were pulped.
The communist authorities go to great lengths to promote and
protect Ho's political and ideological reputation.
Before he died in 1969 "Uncle Ho" said he wanted his body
cremated, but the party decided to preserve it for posterity. It is
sent to Moscow once a year for maintenance work.
Foreign tourists joining the daily busloads of Vietnamese
citizens paying homage are asked to dress appropriately and
adopt a "respectful demeanour" as they are led in single file past
the sarcophagus.
The only clearly visible part of the body is Ho's face, which has a
strange yellowish green tinge.
By Owen Bennett Jones - The Guardian - May 22, 2001.
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