Bubble Princess

(Baonghean) - My group of friends have been talking like chickens lately, opening their mouths to say "Chip", "Chip". When asked, they put two books by author Huyen Chip in their hands, saying that if they read them, they would know. I tried reading them, and found them... normal!

- What do you mean by normal? Don't you think it's almost impossible for a twenty-something girl to travel alone through 25 countries with only a small amount of money in hand?

- I think this book only has a negative impact on readers, especially young people. Firstly, Huyen Chip has the mindset of finding ways to avoid tickets wherever she goes, which clearly tarnishes the image of Vietnamese people abroad. Besides, what is there to be proud of when declaring “I travel cheaply thanks to ticket smuggling”? If so, we should encourage illegal border crossers to write books about their “travel” methods, which are guaranteed to be much less expensive than Huyen Chip!

- It's just a tourist ticket, is there a need to make such a big deal out of it?

- I haven't even mentioned the main idea of ​​the book yet! "Pick up your backpack and go", is extremely reckless, extremely shallow, to the point of doubting the author's credibility! I also remember the backpacking trend of young people: groups of motorbikes leading each other, eating and sleeping on the road, how dangerous! Which parent doesn't worry when they know their child is going backpacking? Yet Huyen Chip "dared" to go backpacking all the way to Europe, America, Africa without preparing anything other than "pick up your backpack and go". If young people approach this kind of excessively free thinking, isn't it very questionable?

I sat silently listening to my friends gossip and argue, feeling a bit... indifferent. First of all, I have to admit that I agree with the criticism that Huyen Chip has violated the laws and regulations of the countries she has visited. But honestly, if my friend had not said anything, I would have turned a blind eye because those details were too small! Or because I myself have done similar things many times, clicking my tongue and going through the ticket gate at the subway station, only to be nervous about meeting the ticket inspector? Admit it, have you ever driven at least once at a red light, using the excuse that the road was empty and there was no sign of traffic police? But the truth is that even when you clicked your tongue and did the above actions, deep down you still know that what you did was wrong, you rarely brag about it to everyone, and you never encourage, praise, or encourage others to do the same.

The problem with Huyen Chip is that she innocently did something wrong, innocently told about it, and was proud of it. I read online an opinion defending Huyen Chip that is it necessary to make a big deal out of small things? Since when do we give ourselves the right to not comply with laws that are considered unimportant? So which laws are important? The danger is that once there is a second time, then a third time, the first time is just a violation of a "small" law, if the violation is not reminded and corrected, it will become a springboard for more serious violations.

But should we boycott or even ban Huyen Chip's books? It would be unfair because there are countless "toxic" books now, how can we ban them all? Moreover, will isolating and filtering our environment completely from bad agents help us live better and healthier? Suddenly remembering the principle of vaccination: to create immunity to a source of disease, we expose our body to a weakened source of disease to create a reaction, "remember" the "defense" mechanism. To see that bad agents are not all bad: there is bad so that we know that not everything is trustworthy and lovable in life. If we are covered by a sterile membrane, will our immune system gradually disappear so that one day when the protective layer breaks like a soap bubble, we will easily fall before the bad? And I blurted out: "Who can be a bubble princess forever?".

Hai Trieu (Email from Paris)