European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Hanoi comes of age the communist stronghold is losing its spartan image by Denis d. Gray associated press gone from the Hanoi Airport Are the revolutionary slogans and welcoming portraits of Uncle to. Instead a pretty woman hands arriving visitors ads for the International club where they can Dine and dance Quot to the hottest disco sounds in  the once Barren streets Are beehives of Coffee shops consumer goods stores and construction Sites. The frantic profit driven activity continues Long after most capitalist capitals have gone to bed. Popular Romance magazines and How to learn English books dominate Bookstall once monopolized by marxist Leninist tracts. Newspapers criticize corrupt officials growing unemployment and abysmal civil service wages. The soviets the closest official allies were not liked by the people when they were communist. Vietnamese officials now sneer at them for Messing up marxism. Whether Vietnam a one of the world s last communist countries along with China Cuba Laos and North Korea a can continue to resist the global pro democracy tide is much debated Here. Several people Are arguing that communism s Days Are numbered Here. They Point to quickly rising economic expectations the government will not be Able to meet. They note the effects of communism a fall in other parts of the world and the growing influx into Vietnam of foreign businessmen journalists tourists and others who will stimulate dissent. Others disagree. A senior Hanoi based Diplomat said Vietnam a leadership is allowing reforms and providing safety valves to Siphon off dissent. In contrast to Eastern Europe and the soviet Union an organized opposition to communist Rule has yet to surface in Vietnam although there have been some protests against economic conditions in Hanoi the capital and to Chi Minh City readers action line the Southern commercial Center. A socialist ideology will continue to exist in the world even if communist governments have failed Quot said Tran Cong Man a retired army general who is vice president of the Vietnam journalists association. Quot we Are very different from Eastern Europe. Our youth has never known a multiparty system and it was the communist party that led Vietnam to Independence Quot he said. Man who generally reflects official thinking said foreign influences would not play an important role in changing. Vietnam s Basic political Structure but added that the party had to retain the Confidence of the coming  mail complicates audio club deals one company which discriminates because of an Apo address is the Columbia record club. It offers nine free cd to join its club. However if you Hae an Apo address they Fob you off with a Crummy half Price Deal i would like to know Why they discriminate against us in this Way Robert c. Bates Shefford England a Jane e. Osman vice president government and consumer affairs Columbia House replies Columbia House operates several direct mail clubs including the Columbia House record and tape club most of our clubs operate under the Quot negative option Quot method of ordering under this method of operation we Send a selection card each month to our members. Unless the customer returns this card to us by a specified Date we automatically ship the current selection. Because of the time sensitive schedule involved this arrangement will not work for club members residing overseas therefore we offer applicants with Apo Fpo addresses a different Type of membership than that which we offer to applicants residing in the lower 48 states. Apo Fpo applicants May be enrolled in the club As Quot positive order Quot members that is they will receive undated selection cards which they do not have to return unless they wish to place an order a much in the same Way they would order from a mail order Catalon. Further Apo Fpo applicants Are permitted to join the club without the requirement of having to Purchase a specified number of additional albums tapes or compact discs within a specified period of time unlike residents of the lower 48 states. Because Apo Fpo members have no Purchase obligation we decrease the number of selections we offer to them when they first join the club we recently improved the Olfer we Send to Apo Fpo like All Hanoi officials he stressed that the party since late 1986 has made a concerted Effort to Reform the Economy and cleanse the nearly 2-million-Strong party of corruption and excessive privilege. Some of this can be seen on the streets of Hanoi the free Market activity and Freer Media the easier Contact Between foreigners and local residents and the people s blatant violation of rules and regulations. But to Date no organized groups have openly challenged the Rule of the party founded by to Chi Minh a remembered Here As Uncle How who led the struggle for Independence from the French and the War against  South Vietnam. To died in 1969, but his communists won the War in april 1975. Quot change in Vietnam May take the form of increasing pluralism in civil life but without multiparty democracy of Eastern Europe or the brutal repression of China Quot american Vietnam scholar Carlyle a. Thayer recently wrote. Thayer noted a general slipping of party control As writers private businessmen religious groups army veterans and vietnamese returning from abroad begin to deviate from the official line. Energies seem rather to be focused on trying not to be left behind in the freewheeling Market place in a nation whose annual per capita annual income is about $200. The chant of a Dollar dollars is heard far More often Here than either pro democracy Calls or revolutionary slogans. Placards proclaiming the workers Paradise Are All but dismantled. Little is left of the legacy of wartime Hanoi but for the hollow cheeked veterans in pith helmets who pass away sunday afternoons playing checkers by the Lake. Whatever Hanoi s future the spartan revolutionary City is As gone and buried As Uncle to. A stroll in a quiet Hanoi Park is in Sharp contrast to the Pace of the rest of the City where modified capitalism is flourishing. Applicants. This offer entitles the applicant to order four compact discs or four cassettes for a $4 shipping and handling charge. There is no Purchase requirement the selection cards do not have to be returned unless the member wants to order and the membership May be cancelled at any time. We Hope this will clarify any misunderstanding and we appreciate the Opportunity to respond to your  write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes. Apo a 09211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 the stars and stripes tuesday november 12, 1991