News and Events

I have a 13-year-old son. At this age, they start to ask: who do I want to be? You know, many of them want to become football players. So I said to him, “Son, you will starve because there are millions out there who play better than you.” [laugh] I really wish that young people in Vietnam looked at Yersin as an example to become a researcher or a scientist because this country has so much to offer.

What inspires you about doctor Yersin?

He is a beautiful figure and a hard-working person who found the meaning of his life through inventions and discoveries. He was ambitious in science and would never harm anyone. I am also impressed by how simple the man was. Though a successful and wealthy scientist, Yersin still spent time showing movies, like the films by Charlie Chaplin, to kids in Nha Trang. He led a well-lived life and earned so many achievements, yet maintained his individualism and altruism.

You said in Da Lat that if young people there learn the spirit and attitude of Yersin, which is an interest for the unknown and a passion for new things, then they will manage to make Da Lat a scientific research hub of Vietnam. Why?

In our embassy, we have pictures published by Vietnam’s Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development on the wall. They are of birds and shrimp and fish in Vietnam. Diversity in nature itself makes Vietnam one of the richest countries in the world, in my opinion. When talking about Yersin and diversity, a Vietnamese doctor comes to my mind: Doctor Tue Tinh. In a book by Robert Templer that I’ve got with me here in the office, Tue Tinh is said to have listed and come up with 3,800 remedies to cure 184 diseases with 630 southern herbs, even 700 years ago.

What I am telling you is, just by this variety, it’s a wonderful world for youngsters to discovera botanical area. Besides, I also believe your cuisine, with different herbs and vegetables, is so particular. We need to introduce that cuisine to the world with not only pho but also with 700 years of know-how  in using nature for our health and our food.

So, the link to Yersin here is, let’s wake up all Vietnamese and make this a research nation. You also have a Confucian background that makes you disciplined. So celebrate that. You don’t want to become Bangkok tomorrow because you will not. If research becomes a strength, you will become a privileged nation.

Why do you think such a research nation is not a reality yet, even though we have very good natural conditions?

A sense of planning is necessary in our system.  If you want to beat others in steel production, you will produce plenty of coal, then the focus on being industrialized in 5 or 10 years. And then, the development is not inclusive because inclusiveness means you always hear everybody. If we put everything on industrialization, we will damage our forests. If we take all the coal out of the ground then the air will be destroyed. So I think it has to do with this faith that industrialization brings you further and quick growth is a miracle.

We in the West also don't care: all the trees in the forests have to be straight and nice because you want to cut them easily. When I started my term in late 2011, it was the time when Vietnam had lost its last Javan rhino. Now it’s estimated that Vietnam has 20 to 30 tigers but every two months, newspapers report that there is one in the fridge of somebody!

There is a faith of humanity in controlling the nature. But for the last 30 or 40 years, the Swiss have woken up. It seems to take you longer and plus, the debate in the press here is much more on proposals and should be constructive. Debates in my country can be less scientific but quicker in hearing voices. Possibly that’s the reason. But I see the consciousness is increasing. The press is writing more and more about development issues of Vietnam. And it must be in the line of the government because clearly the government has had a strong statement that rhino and ivory horns must not be traded.

It takes a Prime Minister to make a particular statement, so he knows it’s serious and the government is paying much more attention. If you want to remain this beautiful country and get people to come and come back, you must save what is out there because much has been damaged. We somehow need a big appeal to the nation that diversity is a wealth of Vietnam. That should be “pride number one.” You also have a diversity of tribes in the north, middle and south of the nation. Don’t look at it as a threat but celebrate it. I believe that young people should enjoy diversity instead of uniformity.

Of course, I do not say we should idolize Yersin. Just take him to remember that life is very full. And you can live according to your talents and discover and try. Let’s bring Vietnam to this thirst for discovery because competition will be on our brains and in education. Yersin, in my opinion, always wanted something that was useful. The link to the necessity of life is important. So in Vietnam, I think academia should talk to industries to see what types of graduates that Vietnam needs to promote its industry.

You must have heard about dual educational systems in Switzerland or Germany. For example, if you realize that 30% of young people can do the best academically, they can go into the academic world. Why push the rest to universities when they will be more successful if they get vocational training or training on the job? Yersin, to me, is an example of science in direct use to industries.

You are the one who proposed that Yersin be granted Vietnamese nationality. Why?

Yes, I went to the Ministry of Justice and asked them to give Yersin Vietnamese nationality. They said they will check if it is possible posthumously. Why do I want this? Yersin spent most of his life here. Every important discovery is from here. I’m saying he’s not only Swiss or French but most of all, he’s Vietnamese. That’d be helpful not only because he is a nice famous figure but one of your history.