Want to be free.
To desire a society.
Want the right to be human. Living free from tyranny.
We want to step our feet out of authoritarianism.
We just want to be free.
I just want to be me.
And we will never give up.
[Singing in Vietnamese]
I just wanna be free free free.
I want to be free.
I just want to be free.
I wanna be me.
I used to be a pop star.
I had a lot of fans, shows, and money.
I even won the Song Of The Year Award
for a patriotic song, that I wrote about my country.
I was living in a good life, but it wasn't enough for me.
Now I'm gonna tell you how I got from there to where I am now.
How I get involved in activism and what I've learned from this experience.
This is a picture when I...when I got the prize. When I won the award.
But, back in 2010 I was already resisting social norms about
what it means to be a Vietnamese woman
what it means to make music in Vietnam.
I wrote a song about woman's freedom. I caused the national scandal
for saying I don't want to have children, or for not wearing a bra.
When I won Song Of The Year Award I was so happy
and I shave V N, for Vietnam, the name of my song, in my hair.
I was just expressing myself in a different way.
It earns me a lot of fans, and just as many critics.
By 2016, I was bored with Vietnamese pop industry.
I couldn't feel free when I create art and music with them, with the censorship system.
I got bored with singers and musicians who censored themselves
and I started to spend time with dissident artists who were doing some interesting things.
Writers who are banned from writing.
Publishers who cannot publish.
Poets whose poems are removed from the official records.
One day, a friend gave me an idea.
"Mai Khoi, why don't you nominate yourself
for the National Assembly Election as an independent candidate?"
Hmm, I didn't know it was possible.
Most of the candidates in the election are Communist Party members.
Vietnam is a one party state that doesn't allow any political opposition.
Activisms are criminalized.
Peaceful protests are crushed.
And the press is censored.
So, people don't know about their rights, but it turns out the law will allow
people can nominate themself as an independent candidate.
I took a few days to think about this.
I thought, this is a good way
to promote human rights, and democracy.
This is a chance for people who want to change their society.
If people can get into the parliament, they can write the new laws.
They can change some public policy issues
like, violence against woman, environment
or education, or food safety.
But, first people need the way to get into the ballot.
So, I nominated.
My nomination sparked a huge debate in Vietnam.
At the beginning, the government officials said things like
"If you just only can sing. It's difficult to get into the parliament."
Or, "How can we allow a person who doesn't wear a bra to get into the parliament?"
You know? But, the more I was criticized in the media
the more people start to question why the officials were trying so hard to discredit me?
They could see how I was treated unfairly.
Three weeks after my nomination
my show was raided by the police
and they published an article in the police magazine
to let people know that I am effectively banned from singing in public.
Of course, in the end I was rejected from the ballot, but I wasn't about to give up.
Knowing that President Obama was coming to visit Vietnam
I made a video to invite him to meet with me.
I thought the meeting would help legitimize my election campaign, and inspire young people.
President Obama, I want to meet you when you come to Vietnam in May.
The United States supports Vietnam to promote the rule of law, transparency, and civil society.
I want to talk about how the United States can better help Vietnam to reform its legal system.
As an independent candidate for the National Assembly
I want to talk about how we can improve our law on elections.
You know, the video went viral
but many people thought I was dreaming.
"How can my Mai Khoi possibly meet with President Obama?"
At that time I have a friend, she has a relative who works in the government.
She called me, and she told me
"Mai Khoi, you are under surveillance 24/7. The police will try to prevent you from the meeting."
So, I went into hiding.
I could see many activists were detained, and it made me nervous.
How could I be the next one?
But, I could come to the meeting. I made it.
We have a very popular artist here, who is, speaking out on behalf of freedom of speech
and expression, and artists throughout Vietnam.
You know what I've learned from this experience?
First, no one can change the world on their own.
If you want to change the society, you need to work with other people.
This means putting difference aside, and building the support.
The second thing that I've learned is, freedom of expression
and democracy are very powerful concepts
but, with Vietnamese, who don't know about their basic rights, they abstract the content.
So, I try to communicate with people in the way that's relevant to their lives.
In this, music and art can play an important role.
Another thing that I've learned...
You know, how freedom of expression, how important freedom of expression...
I was trying so hard to raise awareness for people about freedom of expression
and it's so difficult to engage people.
One day, I realized I'm gonna practice it
to let people see what it looks like.
In November of 2017, when you know, Trump came to Vietnam
without saying a word about human rights or meeting with civil society
I went out in the street and welcomed him to Hanoi.
You know...
But, at the same night I was evicted from my house.
While people think that my protest
was rude and silly, people talked about this for months.
Yes, it created a big debate about freedom of expression, and this is valuable.
Internationally, it's raised awareness about the lack of basic rights in Vietnam.
It was the top of the credit at that time.
You know, a long time I will encourage more people
to nominate themselves for the National Assembly for the next election.
I'm doing some projects, like the graphic novel, and the video-art
to engage people in political issues.
And if you want to learn more about my projects, we can talk later.
You know, now when I create art and music
I don't think about the censorship system anymore
and I hope my music can help people to create art and music
to feel as free as I do, and we, together, can change our society.
We, together, can express for unspeakable voice of Vietnam.
Thank you.