Bắt đầu từ nay
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"Bắt đầu từ nay" is a phrase that means "From now" in Vietnamese ("Bắt đầu" = begin, start; "từ"="from", "nay"="now"). It was also the first phrase in a famous radio Vietnamese-language announcement that was frequently broadcast on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) in Hong Kong during the late 1980s and early 1990s. As the announcement was frequently heard from radio, a lot of Hong Kong people gradually learned this Vietnamese phrase, and in Hong Kong, the phrase became a symbol that represented Vietnamese people.
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[edit] Background of the radio announcement
In 1988, the British colonial Government of Hong Kong announced the policy of Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) in an attempt to stop the continuing influx of Indochinese boat people after the communist takeover in Vietnam and Laos. After the "cut-off day" on June 16, 1988, the Indochinese people who fled to Hong Kong would no longer automatically be considered as prima facie refugees, but only asylum seekers. They had to be screened to qualify for refugee status. Those who were screened-out would be sent back to Vietnam and Laos under an orderly and monitored repatriation program.
One way for the Hong Kong Government to propagandize this policy was to make an announcement in Vietnamese on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), which is a radio corporation operated with funding from the Government. The Government intended to use this radio announcement to inform the Indochinese boat people that they might be repatriated, and to discourage them from coming to Hong Kong.
The radio announcement was broadcast several times in a day. Although most Hong Kong people didn't know Vietnamese, they gradually memorized the pronunciation of the announcement.
[edit] The content of the announcement
[edit] Original text of the announcement
The radio announcement began with a sentence in Cantonese Chinese, the most commonly spoken Chinese variant in Hong Kong.
This was then followed by a paragraph in Vietnamese (with a Cantonese accent).
After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in Cantonese Chinese.
[edit] Meaning of the announcement in English
[edit] The use of the phrase to refer to Vietnamese people
The announcement was aired frequently on RTHK, one of the most popular radio channels in Hong Kong. Due to the fact that the announcement was in a foreign language, it drew the attention of a lot of the audience in Hong Kong. Gradually, a lot of Hong Kong people remembered the pronunciation of the first phrase, "Bắt đầu từ nay". They often transliterated the phrase in Cantonese Chinese as "北漏洞拉" or "不漏洞拉", although the actual pronunciation is closer to "不竇杜拉". As more and more Hong Kong people learnt this Vietnamese phrase, they started to use its Cantonese transliteration to represent Vietnamese people.
However, this phrase is usually considered as derogatory, or even racist. Some Hong Kong people that do not know the meaning and the background of this Vietnamese phrase often think that it has a positive meaning like "Sawadee" in Thai, or as "your attention", "dear friends", "dear compatriot", "dear comrades", or even "hello". If they use this Vietnamese phrase to greet a Vietnamese person, the Vietnamese person would probably either be offended, or not understand what is going on.
[edit] Portrayal In Hong Kong Media
[edit] Early portrayal
The first recorded instance of the usage of "Bắt đầu từ nay" in Hong Kong entertainment programmes was during the 1980s, when it was used in a segment of the light entertainment show Enjoy Yourself Tonight. In the segment, a fight in the refugee camp was parodied, and two actors, using the stage names "Bắt đầu" and "Từ nay", roughed up one of the audience (played by an actor) in the "legislative council" meeting who was well known for creating commotions during Legislative Council meetings.
[edit] 1990s
During the 1990s, some asylum seekers managed to use self-made tools to cut through the fence around the refugee camps and escaped. This incident was replayed on RTHK's news parody programme Headline News. In the video, the phrase was split into the following
- Bắt đầu? (不漏?) (phonetically close to "but lau", which means "leakless?", a reference to the supposedly high security measures in the refugee camp)
- từ! (洞!) (phonetically close to "dong", which means "hole!", a reference to the holes that were cut and used as escape routes).
- nay! (拉!) (phonetically close to "lai", which means "arrested!", a reference to the eventual arrest of the escapees).
[edit] 2000s
In the early 2000s, Vietnamese cuisine became popular in Hong Kong, and the phrase, which had faded out of memory after the resolution of the refugee problem, resurfaced in an advertising campaign for a Vietnamese restaurant.
During the 2003 SARS epidemic in Hong Kong, Eric Kot (traditional Chinese: 葛民輝), a local comedian, phoenetically spoofed the original refugee policy announcement to parody the SARS crisis.
[edit] Text of the Spoof Announcement
The format of the spoof was similar to the original announcement.
This was then followed by a paragraph in Cantonese (with a comical Vietnamese accent).
After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in normal-toned Cantonese Chinese.
