Giles Lever, UK Ambassador to Vietnam

Giles Lever

British Ambassador to Vietnam

Part of UK in Vietnam

7th March 2015 Hanoi, Vietnam

International Women’s Day

To mark International Women’s Day, it’s my pleasure to turn over this space to my first ever guest bloggers: two dynamic Vietnamese women from the world of business, writing on the theme of female economic empowerment through the prism of their own life experiences.  Le Len is head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Vietnam; Nguyen Ha is an entrepreneur who also happens to be an MBA graduate from the UK.

Living in Vietnam, I’m constantly impressed by the talent and energy of Vietnamese women – including that of our mostly female staff at the Embassy and Consulate General!   In many respects, Vietnam does really well on gender issues: there is virtually no official discrimination in terms of government policies or access to education, and women play an active role in all walks of life.  But they are still under-represented at the highest levels of business and politics.  This is hardly unique to Vietnam, of course; the UK and many other countries struggle with the same problem.   So whether you’re British, Vietnamese or any other nationality, I hope that you will find Len’s and Ha’s stories as inspiring and thought-provoking as I did.

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“To be born a woman – that is, itself, a special blessing to me”

By Le Thi Hong Len,  Vietnam Market Head of ACCA

Born into and growing up in a family of five sisters, working in a female-dominated office and supporting a community in which women account for more than 70% of the members, I never stop feeling fascinated by the women around me .

In my discussion with foreign colleagues, they are always surprised by the effort and thirst for knowledge of Vietnamese women. While the ratio of Male to Female ACCA holders worldwide is 55:45 at December 2014, the same figure for Vietnam is 29:71 and the proportion of female members has been increasing year after year. We always find it interesting to discuss the big difference. Is that accountancy and auditing are regarded as ideal for women in Vietnam? Or is because women are under such intense pressure to survive, to compete head-on, and surpass their male colleagues in a working environment that still favours men that they have to spare no effort, on top of living a busy life and caring for families, when tackling and succeeding at the challenge  of the highly-competitive ACCA? The answer might be all and I am not surprised to see more and more women, beautiful, sharp and intelligent, in top management positions.

Len

I am always impressed and inspired by the women around me. Sometimes in our conversations, I can’t help asking myself how these people can fulfill a diverse range of different roles in life. Walking out of the meeting room as President, Executive Director or Chief Finance Officer, with a sharp mind and powerful stance not, their eyes immediately soften and their faces brighten when we chat about our daily life, about our children… who are the an endless source of happiness for working mums. One of my friends is an unrivalled expert in her sector, but she is also a great poet and an excellent cook. Another is stronger minded and decisive than any man I know, but she also dresses with style and deals with others so well that they feel success in defeat. My first boss was a woman, and both charming and intelligent!

It is said that Vietnamese men (and possibly those in other Asian countries) are the happiest when they see that the local restaurants are always full of men enjoying their beer after work while their wives are busy with housework taking care of the children. Now the expectations of both family and society towards women has only increased – not decreased. While in our grandparents’ generation, the world was seen through the phrase “the man makes the house, the woman makes the home”; nowadays, women are expected to contribute to building the house but making the “home” still rests fully on their shoulders. If a man is busy with his work and gets home late, his wife and children must show respect for his efforts. But on the other hand, if a woman must work overtime, she is criticized for spending too much time for her work and abandoning her responsibilities at home. So women have to put in twice or three times the effort to get the same result as men simply because of these pressures.

So are Vietnamese men under any pressure? I think they are under many! They are burdened by the social norms and their own expectations, defining themselves always as the “strong sex”, forcing themselves to show a “tough guy” stance all times. As women, we are allowed to cry when we are sad, laugh when we are happy, we have the right to be strong and to be weak when necessary. We have the right to be ourselves.

Therefore, if someone asks me whether I would take the chance to become a man, the answer would be definitely not. I am content to be a woman, there’s nothing in the world compared to hearing the word “mummy” from my two little princesses.  I think women have many advantages; we may not have muscle power, but we have determination, perseverance and a strong mind.  We also have the soft power of smiles and flexibility. Someone said that if females filled the top nation leadership there would be no war and no corruption.  Why? Because we will use the power of our mind to find a win-win approach and never want to resort to using “muscle-power, or that which we don’t have any advantage in.

In a workshop that discussed the role of women in leadership one of the questions was whether a successful woman at work is less likely to have a happy private life. A female speaker, a top leader at a communication corporation, answered that: “success and happiness are not exclusive… If you want happiness, you have to make your own; it is not a ready-made gift brought to us by others. I am an easily contented woman. I find my happiness everyday opening the window to welcome the new breeze of a beautiful day, I find my happiness in flower, in a book, a song or in a dish, a child’s joyful laugh.

To me, the 8th of March is not a day more special than any other. To be born a woman – that is, itself, a special blessing to me.

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“You are strong and you can do it”

By Nguyen Thu Ha, Partner – Third Eye Management Solution Company Limited, Co-founder cum Managing Director – Sweety Lovey, a Singapore based Kid Clothing Brand.

On a beautiful day when we prepared to bid farewell to the Year of the Horse, I received a call from the British Embassy inviting me to write a blog on women’s economic empowerment because, according to them, I am seen as a young women full of ideas and energy; furthermore, because I left the a large corporation, which offers high pay and secure employment, to become an entrepreneur, a dream of many.

I don’t see myself as a representative of Vietnamese youth, I agreed simply to share a perspective from me and my peers, especially the female ones, about having the courage to confront all challenges and put yourself forward.

I see myself as very fortunate that I have been able to pursue my passion, which is not always easy. When I was in primary and secondary school, the dream job in the eyes of almost all girls as well as their parents is teaching because it’s taken as an honoured job for a woman. Having a teacher in a family was a source of pride for every other member. Yet, my high school time was the period when Vietnam introduced its “open-door economic policy” and many foreign companies started operating in Vietnam. The State was no longer the only employer and earning an income had become increasingly difficult. We have a saying that tough times produce heroes; during this period many of my peers, just older than me, in particular those with language skills were employed in foreign companies and their salaries were much higher than those of the state. As a result, becoming a teacher lost its shine and people increasingly favoured employment at a foreign company. Many parents chose to send their children to the  economic university for their children, regardless of their children’ talents, dreams and passion – with a belief that their children would stand a higher chance of getting closer society’s “dream job” at that time.

photo chi Ha2

A close friend of mine was successful in passing the entrance exams to two elite universities, the Foreign Trade University and the University of Art and Industrial Design. However, to please her family and since she was unsure of the career options due to lack of information, she had to abandon her dream, her talent and passion for art and design, and enter the Foreign Trade University in the hope that she would have a higher chance of employment. Six years after setting foot in the trade university, she left everything to study arts from scratch and became a fashion designer. I admire her determination but I feel regret for the time she lost, pursuing other peoples’ dreams.

To girls, university life brings not only happiness but also concerns. Many parents breathe a sigh of relief and are proud of their children’s’ achievement in entering university but then immediately switch their attention to their children’s romantic life, not academic performance! Countless girls are under family pressure to find a date on every occasion! I used to feel so much stress every day I walked out of my house because my neighbours gathered around me and asked me: “when will you have a boyfriend?” “when will you get married?” and advised me  that “girls don’t need to study much”. The pressure reached its peak when I finished my MBA in the UK. Instead of returning to Ha Noi with my family, I decided to venture to Sai Gon. Work was part of the reason, but the main one was that I was so frustrated with too many strangers looking into my life and planning my future for me. I want nothing other than being independent and deciding my own life!

From my experience, my time studying abroad gave me a wonderful experience to learn, to explore the world and to enrich myself. I am certain that studying abroad is a dream of many people, but not all have the determination, perseverance or the confidence to pursuit it. There are many reasons holding people back: lack of funding, low academic achievement, lack of confidence in language skills, or because you are afraid of the shock once you return to Vietnam upon completion of your studies. Girls have another puzzling question to answer: if I am too well-educated, will I scare off men?

Nevertheless, an excuse is just an excuse. In fact, there is always a solution for all your problems and concerns. As far as I’m concerned, a higher education not only helps to extend our knowledge, widen our perspective, and sharpen our mind… but it also makes people become caring, forgiving and loving toward the world around them. I want to emphasise that the biggest benefit of an educated wife is that she would bring intelligence, understanding and knowledge to build her home and support her children’ development – the owners of the future.

The ideal role model of a hard-working, versatile and self-sacrificing woman has become increasingly debated. Is child rearing the job of women only? Is it the case that women are born to take that burden and husbands cannot do that as well? I don’t think so. In the family, the responsibilities should be divided fairly among all members and both mother and father should be given an equal share of child-rearing. I feel sympathy for many of my colleagues because they are blamed by their husbands, their parents-in-law and their parents, every time they got home at 7 pm. On one hand, people are proud when their wife/ mother have career advancement with many now becoming the highest paid member of the household. But on the other hand, women are required, unconditionally, to devote themselves to family and children.

Many international organisations, including the World Bank, International Labour Organisation, and UN Development programme have launched women’s empowerment programmes to enhance the role of women and their position in Vietnamese society. However, I don’t think that women should wait for things to change or for a magic hand to make things better. Before you are given power, you should demand power: study and improve yourself, explore your own path and establish your own career. Most importantly, don’t just run after the expectations of society, but also don’t limit yourself to a certain model; it’s ok just to be you.

I want to end my blog with my favourite quote from Beyonce: ““I’ve never met a woman who is not strong, but sometimes they don’t let it out. Then there’s a tragedy, and then all of a sudden that strength comes. My message is let the strength come out before the tragedy”. On the occasion of the International Women Day, I wish you all, my sisters, to remain forever young, at heart and in appearance. You are strong and you can do it. You can make it: have a successful career and a fulfilling family life.

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Further information:

Len Le is Vietnam Market Head of ACCA -global body for professional accountants. In this role, she is responsible for sustaining the development and growth of ACCA in Vietnam market and managing stakeholder’s relationship. She is also passionate about developing the Accountancy profession in Vietnam. She has strong experience in various management positions in different multi-national companies prior to joining ACCA. She has two daughters.

Ha Nguyen is an MBA graduate from the UK with a full scholarship from the Lord Mayor of the city of London. She has 8 years of experience in banking and finance industry, holding various management roles in Retail and Commercial Banking in HSBC and ANZ Vietnam. Ha is now a partner of 3rd Eye Management Solution Company focus on executive search service and co-founder of Crayon Company focus on Corporate Trainings. She also the co-founder cum General Director of Sweety Lovey – a Singapore based Kid Clothing Brand.

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About Giles Lever

I’ve been ambassador to Vietnam since July 2014. It’s a great privilege to serve as ambassador anywhere, but I’m particularly delighted to be back working for British interests in a…

I’ve been ambassador to Vietnam since July 2014. It’s a great privilege to serve as ambassador anywhere, but I’m particularly delighted to be back working for British interests in a country and a region I know well.

My very first job in the FCO, in 1991, was in the Southeast Asia Department, and that was followed by a posting to Vietnam from 1993-97 – an exciting time, as the “doi moi” process of economic reform and opening up gathered pace.

East Asia has been a bit of a theme in my career, as I also worked at the British Embassy in Tokyo from 2002-2006 (preceded by two years learning Japanese). But I’ve also been fortunate enough to work on a lot of other interesting regions and issues, including on the Middle East and North Africa, international development, and arms control/security. Immediately before coming back to Hanoi, I was Deputy High Commissioner in Abuja, Nigeria.

Outside of work, when I have time, I like running, reading, exploring, and trying to stay in touch from afar with the fortunes of Bolton Wanderers FC. Many of my Vietnamese friends love Premier League football, and are invariably disappointed to hear that the team I support is not in the Premiership!

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