VietNamNet Bridge – Do Nhat Nam, 11, called a “Vietnamese child prodigy” for his brilliant achievements obtained so far, has raised a big controversy in the society after giving an interview to a local newspaper and talking about his dreams and sharing his experience in learning English.

Do Nhat Nam

At the age of 11, Nam has become very well known in Vietnam for the achievements that no one could imagine could be made by an 11-year-old boy. He was the MC at a VTC program for children. He is now the English teacher for the children who suffer from cancer. Nam is the youngest translator who has published his own book. He got high results at the international English tests. The title of the “youngest autobiography writer in Vietnam” has been granted to the boy for the bilingual book “To da hoc tieng Anh nhu the nao?” (How do I learn English?).

When asked about the books Nam likes reading, he said he likes politics, science and informatics books. He also said that he doesn’t like comic strips, because his mother said comic strips are like the worms that demolish people’s soul.

As soon as the interview was posted on Internet, Nam’s parents have become the “aiming point” of the public’s violent criticism. People wrote on forums that Nam was unlucky because he was born into a family, where parents forced him to learn too hard, and that Nam did not have his childhood because of the overwork.

The boy has been described as “having an old head on young shoulders” because he likes talking about the serious matters, which should be the topics in the discussions of the adults.

Nam has also been criticized by the public when he said he dreamed of becoming a university professor at a foreign school, before he returns to Vietnam to work at a cryptography institute. People believe that the boy is not modest enough, while commenting that turkey-cocks would not succeed in their lives.

By April 7, at least Facebook pages have been set up, serving as the forums for people to criticize and outrage Nam. Cutting sarcasms, caricatures and fabricated images have been used which might have hurt Nam and his parents severely.

The criticism has become so violent that Nguyen Hoang Khac Hieu, MA, from the HCM City University of Education, has to call on people to “stop throwing stones at Nam.”

“The achievements cited by Nam are the real ones, which Nam can take pride of. When he was 5-6 years old, he could do the things that many adults still cannot do. This is the reality which should be respected,” Hieu said.

Le Thi Thu, Deputy Chair of the Vietnamese Children’s Right Protection Association, also said that Nam should be encouraged and praised instead of criticism.

“I think we should encourage the talents like Do Nhat Nam. The unreasonable criticism may thwart a talent,” Thu commented.

She also said that the association would take actions to encourage and protect Nam and his parents, while she has called on the Facebook users to have culturally coded behaviors.

Lawyer Nguyen The Trach said that Nam and his family members need to be protected against the unreasonable behaviors by the extremists.

The international conventions on children's rights and the Vietnamese laws both comprise the provision saying that in all cases, children’s dignity and honor must be protected, even if the children violate the laws.

Compiled by C. V