Jump to full article: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2008-06-16
Author: Alex Wynter in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Intro: Nguyen Thi Hue, the president of the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Vietnamese Red Cross (VNRC), believes smokers should set an example - by not smoking outside in public.
In effect, it's the opposite principle to the one that applies in the West, where the "smokers' huddle" outside big-city office buildings has become a much-discussed social phenomenon.
But Red Cross volunteers quietly get the "do it in private" message across to prosperous Vietnamese smokers whenever they can.
Madame Hue (as she's universally known) says that ideally nobody should smoke at all. But when it comes to cigarettes in Asia, and especially in a country where some hotels thoughtfully leave new packs in the rooms of arriving guests and nice clean ashtrays are a ubiquity in bars and restaurants, someone has to start somewhere. . . .
It's one example of the VNRC having to broaden its horizons to take up new challenges, she told the International Federation in an interview at the chapter headquarters.
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