The 'Justice Tree': Digital-age defiance in Vietnam

Tree 55 on Nguyen Huy Tu Street – now dubbed the “Justice Tree” – was buried under bouquets earlier this month. It was an act of digital-age defiance over the death of a teenager in a road traffic accident in the area that went unpunished.

Response to the accident, which triggered a belated explanation from the state, reveals unease with a system many young Vietnamese no longer believe can deliver on its socialist promises, analysts say.

The national narrative is one of a Southeast Asian nation on the rise, with region-topping economic growth and an international profile to match. But there is also simmering discontent from its 100 million population – especially from youth, connected to parts of the internet even one of the world’s tightest surveillance regimes is slow to reach.

Tree No 55 is a case in point. Last May, 18-year-old Do Ngoc Phuong Thuy and her father were hit by a BMW that swerved into their lane. The seriously wounded teenager died 10 days before her high school graduation exam.