A sharp thinker walking a self determined, spiritual path with a spring in her step.

Quyên Luu takes us to her favourite cafe to chat about discovering her spiritual self through her love for learning, how to get a boring but important political issue to trend on social media and the pitfalls of the online world when it comes to romance.

Links

Ếch Phu Hồ - YouTube Channel

Transcript

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[FULL TRANSCRIPT]

This is Vietnam’s Renovation Generation. Sonic portraits of young minds reshaping the country’s future. In episode 7 we talk to Quyên Lưu.

Bitch better have my money… you know that song?

[MUSIC]

You should know me well enough.

[MUSIC]

We talk to Quyên about spiritual inspiration, making government accountability a hot topic and Facebook’s worst feature.

It’s not about Rhianna’s song it’s about dancer…

The dancer's skills and professionalism make Quyên want to better herself in what she has chosen to pursue.

Spiritual things... yoga is one of that, meditation, or work in an NGO.

Quyên grew up in Lào Cai, a mountainous region in the North of Vietnam.

I was born in 1993. My memories in Lào Cai is not something special.

Her family has a small groceries store. They sell candies and cosmetics. There wasn’t much else to do besides studying.

It’s not really boring, because I love studying.

Her path seemed clearly laid out. A stable job, a good salary, an annual holiday, a husband, a son, a daughter… But Quyên had other ideas.

[MUSIC]

All of my teacher, all of my friends, my parents, my sister, my younger sister put some invisible pressure. Wow this girl has very bright future in their definition.

I studied International Finance in Foreign Trade University. After four years, I realized that I don't like finance very much.

At university, she volunteered in environmental projects, sustainable development, teaching in mountainous area, the Live and Learn initiative, communities activities and the Think Playground.

That kind of opened my eyes totally.

After a year volunteering with NGOs, she started questioning their effectiveness.

They have the pressure to spend all the money of their budget. If they don't do that, they will have lower amount of money in the next year. That's why at the end of the year, many NGOS they have some bullshit activities.

She looked at her own life for a place where she could make changes.

My life is full of things that satisfy me. I think that there is someone suffering something...

...for you to have the things that you have.

Yes. That's what I guess.

Quyên turned to spirituality, something she hadn't believed in until now.

Being a good student she approached her spiritual search with a scientific mind.

The more I read the more I think that it’s just something that science couldn’t explain yet.

This is her reading list.

You know that book? Mostly it’s about philosophy. Secrets of Happiness. Biography of a Yogi. Revolution of a Straw. What is Happiness...

By...

Thích Nhật Hạnh

The road she had just discovered wasn’t easy to follow.

If I imagine that I have a life just like some yogi that I read about. They pray all the days. That kind of life is not something ordinary. I'm afraid that it's too hard to live that kind of life. And I am afraid that'll disappoint my parents. Frankly, I still love buying things, but I reduce my money a lot.

[MUSIC]

We were impressed with this young woman’s mind and we told her halfway through the interview.

When I talk to my friends and they have compliments for me. You are so interesting you are so. You know many things. And I don’t really like that. That makes me focus on... I want more compliments. And that kind of greed, just some part of me still follows some unreal value.

I had first heard about Quyên when a friend of mine told me...