Selecting judges for EU essay contest by #EuropeanUnionInVietnam has become a farce
“The Vietnamese people are like cheeky children, and we, the parents [the Vietnamese government] can close the doors to teach and punish them in our own way. And you [international organisations and other countries] must not intervene in our internal affairs”.
These are the words of Ton Nu Thi Ninh, who has been selected to judge, of all things, the crucial #EUessaycontest. She rejects the universal human rights values despite the fact she has been educated in the west. She speaks both English and French like a native.
The EU essay contest asks participants to write everything they know about the European Union, not only the history and culture of Europe, but also about the ideas that underpin it, and the values it stands for.
Forged after the two bloody world wars, this international body is now more important than ever, at a time when we are faced with the prospect of new conflicts, not to mention massive issues such as antibiotic resistance, cyber crime, migration, and climate change, that can only be tackled if we come together and work in collaboration.
The words of Ton Nu Thi Ninh are inimical to this, as she rejects the fundamental values of the European Union, which as we understand it, are human dignity and rights, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law. Calling the Vietnamese is hardly respecting their equality, is it?
The hypocrisy of the EU Delegation in Vietnam is not far off that of Boris or Farage, self-serving career politicians. When Boris comes outside his home to make cups of tea for reporters, after he has made racist comments about Arab women, he is invoking a sense of Britishness, and appealing to older people who remember Britain before the Windrush era. Can the EU Delegation in Vietnam really be as bad as this? They are certainly dealing with mop-headed buffoons.
These values have been made directives for European member states as well as European bodies (including the European Commission).
If the European Union invites Mrs To Nu Thi Ninh to judge its EU essay contest, they only reveal their own contempt for the European Union, a body that is in fact threatening to fall apart after Brexit.
A new Russian verb has been coined, “to Brexit”, and may be used for instance when someone says they will leave a party, but then stays hanging around for much longer. The Russian are laughing at the Brits, but this really is no joke, as the European Union is falling apart, and here we are likening it to a party.
I tell you, it will be no party if you invite Ton Nu Thi Ninh to judge the EU essay contest. Please take our advice and do some serious research into her former comments, and ask yourselves, does this woman represent the interests of the EU?
Note:
The full quote from Ton Nu Thi Ninh is in Vietnamese, and reads: “Trong gia đình chúng tôi có những đứa con, cháu hỗn láo, bướng bỉnh thì để chúng tôi đóng cửa lại trừng trị chúng nó, dĩ nhiên là trừng trị theo cách của chúng tôi. Các anh hàng xóm đừng có mà gõ cửa đòi xen vào chuyện riêng của gia đình chúng tôi.”
https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tôn_Nữ_Thị_Ninh
