Alex Reeves - @afreeves23

I’m grumpy. Maybe it’s the heat, perhaps it’s that I’m tired from another Vietjet delay. More than likely, it’s the dawning realisation that my summer holidays are drawing to a close. Next week I’ll be returning to the office and, soon enough, the classroom. No more last-minute flights, midweek nights at the Bia Hơi or sleeping in late. Back to stationery, lesson planning and a glut of what I’m assured are absolutely necessary meetings.

This is reality and I really shouldn’t complain. I get to live and earn well in a country I’ve chosen, rather than make the best of a hand I’ve been dealt. Despite not being from these shores, people are kind and welcoming. For the most part, I’m treated with respect, and there’s a distinct element of privilege in both the choice I’ve made and the way it’s gone. That, however, is for an article with a considerably longer word count.

I recently spent a couple of hours in the company of a French-Canadian guy visiting Vietnam, who had absolutely nothing but negative things to say about the migrants he felt were hijacking his culture and taking over his country. According to him, they spoke their own language, practised their own faith and even had the audacity to complain. Outside of the more obvious irony, I was shocked to hear that he was visiting from Thailand, where he’s lived for five years as a digital nomad, on concurrent tourist visas, no taxes paid.

Without even delving into his less-than-flattering commentary on South-East Asia, that’s a lot to unpack and I’m not even going to try. Instead, what I found most interesting is an aspect of the conversation I’ve had with friends here and seen played out in many a comment section. Should migrants (sorry, ‘expats’, this is you) have the right to complain in the countries they’ve moved to? It’s a controversial question that people have strong feelings about, and in my experience, one that exposes its fair share of hypocrisy.

Migrants have their own set of issues and view their new homes through a very different lens than those who were born there. Personally, rather than sitting on the fence, I’m going to say yes, migrants do have the right to share their grievances. If someone is paying taxes and contributing to society, they have a stake in the place they live, and I’d be uncomfortable with someone in the UK being disallowed a voice because they were ‘foreign’.

Off the bat, I think people driving SUVs in urban Hanoi is an arrogant joke. Estate agents misrepresenting apartments is rude, unprofessional and a waste of everyone’s time. The inconsistency and bureaucracy of banking here is frankly unnecessary. These opinions aren’t to criticise Vietnam, the people, or the way of life - and that’s the important distinction. Calling out daily frustrations isn’t a critique of culture, it’s the reality of living somewhere fully and hoping that one day these petty annoyances will be a thing of the past.