will be divided into four parts to explain the alteration clearly.
1. The New Regulations
During the Vietnam War, there were some regulations that the Vietnamese and immigrants had to obey. In this study, there are two new regulations that
change Percival‟s ethnocentrism. They are the new regulation of citizenship and school.
During Ngo Dinh Diem‟s reign, there was a naturalization that made the Chinese had to adopt Vietnamese citizenship 2010:14. Percival as the Chinese
must obey this rule if he still wants to live in Cholon. “”I had to take Vietnamese citizenship a few years ago, for the sake of my school license. Now, I am told to
teach Vietnamese,”said Percival” 2012:15. The speech shows that Percival has no power to abandon the regulation. Percival must take Vietnamese citizenship to
continue his life in Cholon, Vietnam. The second regulation is that every school has to put Vietnamese language
in the curriculum. When two Vietnamese officers come to his house, Percival still feels that he is more superior than them.
The younger one said, “Percival? Percival Chen?” “Da.” Yes. Dai Jai stood up quickly, but Percival did not. The two men in
sunglasses glanced at the single vacant chair, and remained standing. Now that they were here on his balcony, Percival would do what was needed,
but he would not stand while they sat. 2012:12
Percival feels that he is powerful person. He does not welcome or ask them to sit down. The two officers give a document to be signed, but Percival does not want
to sign. He thinks that it is not a necessity to learn or teach Vietnamese language
in English school. Chinese language has more prestige than Vietnamese language. At first, Percival meets Mr. Tu to solve the problem. Mr. Tu is a Chinese
who works as the second adjunct chief administrative officer of the department of language institutes. Mr Tu can not help him for sure because it is not a problem
that can be solved by the Chinese. Mr. Tu opened the package, and thanked Percival for the carton of
Marlboros and the bottle of Hine cognag. “The issue of Vietnamese instruction in the Chinese quarter----in Cholon---is . . . how can I say . . .
Important to some,” he said. “It may be difficult to make exceptions.” This type of response was also typical, in order to justify a price. But Mr.
Tu looked genuinely uncomfortable, which was unusual. 2012:20
Mr. Tu‟s response shows the problem can not be solved. Percival must obey the regulation. Even though he knows that Mr Tu can not help him, he is still
persistent not to teach Vietnamese language. When Dai Jai was arrested because he demonstrated to deny learning the Vietnamese language, Dai Jai is accused as
the pro-communist. Percival started to realized that he has to take an action . “”We
will have to hire a Vietnamese teacher immediately,” said Percival” 2012:24. Though the speech, Percival decide that he will put the Vietnamese language in
his curriculum. Those regulations have changed Percival‟s ethnocentrism slowly. It can be
seen through his conversation with his son, Dai Jai. The quotation as follows: “Son, a man could think without acting, or act without being seen. A son
should be dutiful. Not reckless.” “Yes, Father.”
“We are wa kiu.” They were overseas Chinese, those who had wandered far from home. “We are safer when we remain quiet.” 2012:28
Percival who used to remind Dai Jai about their culture, chooses to stay quiet. According to the speech, Percival does not want to show his superiority. He
realized that he is just an immigrant, the minority group in Vietnam. He can not be too proud to his culture because he lives in a foreign country. Percival starts to
diminish his superiority because of the new regulations.
2. The Cooperation with America
Kategori