Obama ends trip with youth talk
ho chi minh city us President Barack Obama fielded questions yesterday on everything from rap and weed smoking to his good looks at a lively meeting with young Vietnamese, who see the US leader as a far cry from their staid Communist rulers
the us President on the final leg of a three day trip to Vietnamese before flying to japan, held one of his trademark town hall gatherings with hundreds of youngsters in the country's buzzing commercial and creative capital Ho Chi Minh City.
the President received a huge cheer as he look to the stage in a one-party authoritarian state where politics is opaque and young people's voices are rarely heard
Suboi, one of the country's best known female rap artists, serenaded mr obama with Vietnamese lyrics about whether people are really happy if they have lost of money
seemingly delighted with the exchange, mr Obama praised the journey of hip-hop "which stared out as an expression of poor african americans " and became a "global phenomenon"
he then appeared to take a thinly veiled swipe at Vietnamese's authoritarian leaders, who regularly suppress critical artists
imagine if at the time when rap was starting off our government had said no because some of the things you say are offensive, or some of the lyrics are rude,or you're cursing too much?' he said
" if you try to suppress the arts then you are suppressing the deepest dreams and aspirations of a people ," he added
earlier another young man began his question with: "mr President, you're so handsome."
to which mr Obama quickly quipped "oh you can just stop there if you want"
another asked whether internet posts about mr Obama's alleged marijuana smoking as a youth were true
" i don't know if that's true," mr Obama quickly remarked, further dousing the issue with a warning:"don't believe everything you read on the internet."
mr Obama has been met with throngs of enthusiastic well wishers in a country where politicians are notorious for their remoteness and lack of charisma
i lika his behaviour, being the most powerful man in the world,but very close to people not like leaders here ," said 22 year old tran huu duy "they only wear suits and talk cliches ..[they]cannot inspire young people "
japan in the naxt and final stop on mr obama's wing through asia ,a region he says helped shape him growing up in his native hawail and later in indonesia
mr Obama is to attend a summit of the group of seven industrialised starting today .agencies