ABSTRACT
Mr Khoa is impeccably dressed in the modern businessman’s suit and tie. As a former public servant, now director and partner in a thriving private consultancy firm in Hanoi, he represents the prototypical contemporary Vietnamese private-sector entrepreneur. When asked about freedom and democracy, he says,
Vietnam is by nature a democratic country. Even if individuals are not officially allowed to do things, they do them quietly anyway. It is not freedom that is limited, only the legal recognition. You Westerners are only concerned with the recognition. These rights are not called human rights, but they are similar. But I think that by avoiding confrontation and outright demands, human rights can be introduced gradually. People are becoming more aware of rights and want recognition.1
