Chinese-Vietnamese youth turn to social media to find their roots

Interest in their heritage and language being revived, with a boost from contest posted online.

- Nga Pham

HỌ CHI MINH CITY – Five young people are avidly livestreaming on Facebook, showing viewers how to say common phrases in Mandarin and various Chinese dialects like Cantonese, Teochew, Hokkien, and Hakka - and giggling at the different ways to say a familiar word.

- Three, two, one, rolling! -How do you say 'I like you' in Cantonese? Ngo zhong yi nei.

- And in Mandarin? - Wo xihuan ni! At the centre of this word storm is petite 30-year-old Tran Ai Nhi, host of the "How do you say..."" series, which showcases dialects spoken by Vietnam's Chinese diaspora. The occasional series, which first appeared online in August, has generated millions of views on social media.

"Our families are all of Chinese origin - mine, for example, are Cantonese," said the cheongsam-clad lass, who is better known as Nhi Nhi Dai Ban Doanh (which translates to Nhi Nhi headquarters) to her fans on Tik Tok and Facebook. What began as light-hearted posts about her life became a way to reconnect and share her ethnic heritage online. Miss Ai Nhi was born in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, as were her parents.

Another content creator who uploads short clips on Chinese-Teochew language and culture on Tiktok and Facebook is Tieu Nhou, who proudly declares on her Facebook page that she is a (Teochew person). The 25-year-old, who has been active online for six years and has 100,000 followers each on Facebook and TikTok told The Straits Times that promoting Teochew online is a way to help keep her dialect and culture alive.

Her grandparents left eastern Guangdong province for Vietnam in the early 20th century and settled in Ho Chi Minh City.

"I am worried that there are fewer and fewer Teochew speakers in Vietnam, and one day the language will just disappear," said Miss Tieu Nhou, who speaks Teochew to her parents at home.