Day 5: Reflections – Stacey Yip

The VSIP are not located in Ho Chi Minh City but in the province of Binh Duong. Singapore does the town planning but does not provide them with the resources. Singapore teaches Vietnam how to fish rather then giving the fish to them. Singapore provides them with the necessary skills they need and leave them by themselves after they are self-sufficient.

VSIP 1
- 500Ha
- International companies are present
- Looks like Singapore in terms of traffic planning and drainage system
- Used land space by constructing buildings more horizontally then vertically (rocket houses etc)

VSIP 2
- 1000Ha
- Currently expanding (empty land space)


We should grasp the overall knowledge and then applying it into the context that we are in.

Vietnam wanted to copy Singapore and thus introduced the drainage system – canal into Vietnam. This plan worked only for VSIP 1 but was not carried forward into VSIP 2. This was because it was very costly to import and rebuild this kind of drainage system and was more of a want than a need in Vietnam’s context. They realized that they had insufficient funds and thus could not introduce it into VSIP 2 too.

There should be balance between thinking and acting.

Singaporeans are generally very “safe” people, they do not often take risks and must plan carefully before doing any big decision. However, this does not mean careful planning is bad, over excessive of anything is bad. Risks without prior planning is bad, planning too much without taking any risks is also bad as the time spent thinking would be wasted while others are already taking the risk. The balance should be between planning and risks.