Run Over!
The other day one of my customers told me that some samples we shipped to them had literally rolled out of the back of the truck and were run over by a tire of a large semi truck. I thought isn’t that exactly the way I feel a bit these days – like I was also run over by a semi truck? My life the last two months has been spent cleaning up the mess in my Vietnam Office that two of my staff left. Both of these staff were so corrupt that the only place I feel they should be at the moment is sitting in a jail cell. They stole, lied, cheated and schemed how to cheat on every single thing that was possible. They took from others and hurt others with no thought for anyone but themselves. Criminal is the kindest word I can think of using in this case; I feel I have looked the devil in the eye. In any other country these individuals could be locked up in a jail cell, but in Vietnam with a legal system that does not always see corruption as a problem there is not always justice – especially for foreigners.
Vietnam is a land of irony. Take for example their Civil Code Article 9 that is entitled Good Faith and Honesty. It says that “in civil relations, the parties shall act in good faith and honesty,” and then it goes on and describes that all people in Vietnam are expected to be honest in their dealings with each other. I recently pointed out to my staff since honesty was placed in the Civil Code it has become a legal concept. In theory this should mean that to be dishonest, lie, cheat and steal is against the law and companies should unquestionably be able to bring to justice the employee who decides to take money, embezzle or do a host of other illegal things. In theory it could be done, but in practice high principles are much more difficult to actually apply to your work place.
I have spent a large part of the month having meetings with my staff and vendors to talk about what corruption and honesty means. Most of my vendors have openly told me that they have been cheated so many times by corruption and dishonesty that it has hurt their business. Some have told me they had to dismiss most of their staff at one time or another due to corruption. Like me, these small business owners understand how corruption hurts business and why I had to take the steps I did. Many of them have openly thanked me for cleaning up my office and getting rid of the employees I did. They all smile when I tell them I want them to sign a contract to confirm that if they pay out any corruption money to any of my staff they must pay me back double the amount they have paid out.
To me this is all very ironic for a country that has honesty as a legal principle in their Civil Code. I should not have to have these conversations—they should be understood as they are part of the law. I should not have to define what corruption or dishonesty means.
At present Vietnam is clearly a country that is struggling to find a balance between what is honest and dishonest, corruption and non-corruption. There are many who feel that Vietnam’s corruption could derail their chances of becoming a real economic Asian Dragon. Most foreigners who are working here that I happen to know are frustrated and have been hurt by corruption. Also many Vietnamese are frustrated and, like their foreign counterparts, have also been hurt by corruption. That is very ironic since the principle of honesty has been written into their laws. So the theoretical principle of Good Faith and Honesty, because it is unenforced, may end up to be the very principle that completely derails Vietnam’s economic bubble, and may end up to be the reason that they may become just an economic Asian Dragon wannabe, instead of the real thing!