“The Communists may have won the war,” writes Thomas Maresca in USA Today, but “alongside the hammer-and-sickle flags are Chanel and Cartier boutiques.” Many Vietnamese born after the fall of Saigon pay little attention to the lasting political wounds -- “they are more focused on enjoying the country's new found prosperity.” Young Vietnamese, says Maresca, “are as selfie- and Facebook-obsessed as peers around the world, and their focus is on how to take advantage of a growing economy.”
“To say that Vietnamese love American culture is an understatement,” says Dang Hanh in the state-owned Thanh Nien News. Young people “often queue in long lines for a new Hollywood blockbuster, or a new Starbucks store,” he writes, it’s easy to spot teenage girls wearing American outfits on busy streets in Ho Chi Minh City “humming a Miley Cyrus song,” publishers love bringing hot American titles into Vietnam and “local authors love writing about American life.”