Moji Motions

(1) Phan Thanh Giản was one of the foremost mandarins of the Nguyễn court. He played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Saigon with the French in 1862. The treaty had 12 clauses, the most important being : Art. 2- Đại Nam (the country’s name then) allows French and Spanish missionaries to preach and the Vietnamese to practice the Christian faith freely. Art. 3- Đại Nam cedes to France the three eastern provinces of Biên Hòa, Gia Định and Định Tường and the island of Poulo Condor (Côn Đảo). Art. 8- Đại Nam agrees to pay France 4 million dollars worth of silver over 10 years as war reparation. Art. 11- France will return Vĩnh Long Province to Đại Nam once the three eastern provinces have been pacified. (2) Phan Thanh Giản was later recalled to Huế to get instructions to conduct an extraordinary embassy to Paris and negotiate the return of the eastern provinces. In Paris, after intense discussions, French Minister of the Navy and the Colonies Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat opposed the return of Cochinchina to Vietnam, and with the threat of resignation of the whole cabinet, forced Napoleon III to order the cancellation of the proposed agreement in June 1864. Thus the Saigon Treaty of 1862 remained in full effect. Because of his main role in the negotiations, Phan Thanh Giản was blamed by the Vietnamese people and the Huế Court.

Political correctness: attempts that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society.

For example: if I donate to treating malaria, the money will go to the charities that are proven to be most effective at combating it.

New, inexperienced investors joining the stock market are often called "F0 investors". In 2020-21, Vietnam has a record-high number of new investors joining the stock market.

e.g. if you are ethnically Vietnamese, you should identify strongly with Vietnamese culture.

The 'philosophy of water' comprises "H+H+O = H2O", which in detail means "Humility: water stays low in the river, yet it is a life-giving force; Harmony: water does not fight against its surroundings, it works with them to find a course; and Openness: water is open to change: gas, liquid, solid. It adapts and alters its form accordingly. The 'philosophy of fire' comprises opposite elements: Fierce, Insistent, Relentless, Exhaustive. It teaches one to develop a more rigid and firm sense of self that charges forward no matter what and burns all obstacles.

Blockchain is a kind of record-keeping technology which stores data in blocks that it chains together chronologically each time new data is added, creating an ever-expanding link of information that is continuously verified by a vast network of server farms and individual "miners." This peer-to-peer verification keeps the information very secure, but also results in an extremely high electricity consumption to maintain the networks (currently estimated at over 130 Terrawatt hours in a year, or 0.6% of global electricity consumption). A basic purpose of Blockchain is to be able to assign a unique identity to a tradeable piece of digital information, preventing attempts to alter or replicate it (because the peer-to-peer verification system mentioned above would detect such violations). A core use of Blockchain is cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Etherium, which are able to function as a decentralized currency without a central bank or government’s control. The blockchain is used to store a ledger of transactions on each coin, and the verification system keeps in place an artificial scarcity that prevents more from being "printed out." Some other examples include the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) - a way of trading "ownership" of digital art by storing unique links to art pieces in blockchain form - as well as digital collectibles.

An out-of-court settlement is when an arrangement is made formally between all parties involved in a lawsuit to resolve the dispute without the court's involvement - usually through financial compensation or mediation.

"Vaccine passports" are documents that are currently being considered or adopted by many countries in the attempt to reopen some economic activities during Covid-19. These can be apps or documentation to prove that an individual has received the full dose of vaccination or has already survived the disease and has immunity that way. They can be required for domestic economic activities, such as attending bars or concerts, or considered for the purposes of international travel, such as allowing those with a vaccine passport to bypass quarantine.