The fear become a province or a colonial state of China widely spread among Vietnamese people. Even being influenced by China is not favored by the public.
How ironic it is that the current Vietnamese government is a heavily pro-China government.
The South China Sea, prior to 2011, Vietnamese pay little care about the SCS. It rarely appears in any text book in highschool let alone being a daily-chatting topic. No matter it's China, India or the West drill oil in the SCS, Vietnam could only get a small faction of that benefit. So we don't pay any damn care. Vietnam is also not in thirsty for oil as China does.
The SCS issue in Vietnam is just a mere political game. It's just a tool to divert public attention at least in Vietnamese side.
In the early months of 2011, there was a Vietnamese state-own shipbuilding corp went on bankruptcy, likely the biggest bankruptcy we've ever had. All the debt it left behind was stunning, the damage to the country's reputation... It was the government's huge failure, Mr. Prime Minister under huge pressure to resign. Then the SCS issue suddenly broke out, public opinion diverted, Mr. Prime Minister miraculously survive the crisis.
Furthermore, the SCS issue and multilaterizing it are just a bargaining trick the Vietnamese government uses to heighten its price on the negotiation table with the Chinese. You could not hope Vietnam go further against China unless Vietnam is back by a power nation like the US or Russia. To be fair, India influence over Vietnam is still very low.