Day 6 Reflections (May 28) — Si Yuan, Stacey, Davina & Niklaus

Level 1 of An Dong retail market

Multistory Lotte Mart

Vietnamese modern retail outlet, Sieu Thi Co-opmart

EQ 1: Observing the changes in the 2 different retail outlets; traditional and modernized

After visiting 3 of the many malls in Vietnam,  a common amenity that can be found is a game centre. All 3 old and new malls has a game centre. The older malls has a game centre at the top most level of the mall but the newer malls have a game centre at the basement of the mall. This was something I found most interesting because I didn't expect Vietnam malls to have game centres, because of the perception that Vietnam has not been developed to the point at which they can spend on recreational activities. Basically, some of the differences that can be observed easily is the width of the aisle, the number of people in the malls, and the smell of it. The newer ones are wider than the older ones because of area constraints. If the old malls are to be expanded, prices will definitely have to rise and that the consumers will decrease, and because of that, a chain reaction will take place. The weird smell in the older malls are caused by the lack of air-condition. The main issue now is the in-balance of consumers between the different shopping malls. Finally, the last difference between the older malls and the newer ones was that the prices are a bit more flexible in the older malls and that they are cheaper too. Hence, I can conclude that there are definitely a difference between the different classes of shopping centres. 

EQ 2: The transitions of the retail outlets in HCMC from the traditional to the modern retail outlets

The Vietnamese government is improving the quality of life in Vietnam by providing more jobs, living spaces, schools, hospitals, services. Included in services are retail and entertainment—where the retail market comes in. The government demolishes or moves traditional retail outlets to make way for more modernized ones. The shopping malls have to meet the demand of the people’s higher quality of living and thus more modern retail outlets selling higher quality items are slowly springing up in many areas of Ho Chi Minh City. Some reasons why consumers may not go to traditional retail outlets could be the difficulty of organization. The disorganized and overcrowding of shops pose many problems such as the smaller aisles that are usually filled with bags, thus making movability around the shops harder and with the combination of flexible prices, it could create a lot of problems for the shoppers. 

EQ 3: How is the retail development in HCMC a reflection of the country's development

Modern retail outlets, as compared to traditional outlets, provides comfortable, enjoyable, quality and simple shopping inside a single shopping center. The trade off is higher the command of price that is require for the purchase of products or services. As such Newer shops would be built to cater to the growing middle class locals and the tourist coming to the country. They include modern technology like lifts, touch screen navigation to shops, air-conditioned shopping environment and more contributes to make the experience more enjoyable at the retail centers. All these modern technology present in modern retail outlets are the effects of retail development. This comes at a time when Vietnam’s economy is currently growing at a very fast pace. It is one of the fastest growing country in Asia with Inflation growth per year at 8% in Vietnam, while average countries have an increase of 3% per year, Vietnam’s GDP also have a tremendous growth of 6.7% per year. At the rate at which Vietnam’s economy is developing, naturally the spending power of its citizens will increase due to the higher job opportunities available to the citizens. Higher spending power will result in higher demand of quality services and products in the country. Thus the retail development in HCMC is reflected in the country's development as higher spending power will cause citizens to want to shop in better developed retail outlets as there are  better experience and quality. 

EQ 4: The Comparison of singapore and vietnam modern retail outlet

During the visit of the various modern retail outlets in vietnam, we noticed many different characteristics between the modern retail outlets in both countries. The modern retail outlet can be categorized into two different category of spending power. There are higher end retail outlets that sells branded items like Channel and there are retail outlets that either have shops that sells items suited to the middle class or shops that sell items for the middle class and higher class.

Comparing the middle class retail outlets in both countries in general, the Vietnam retail outlet has up to 2 times wider aisle in department stalls as compared to singapore. Also the store space are bigger due to the cheaper per square foot rent. The reason of this could be down to the cheaper land prices which allows these modern retail markets to be built "horizontally" instead of "vertically". As building "horizontally" is considerably less expensive than building "vertically". With bigger surface area, similarities of both malls would be the concept of the interior design, which is elegant and designed to look sophisticated. There are also the mode of transport in the mall, which are escalators and lifts. These are just some of the similarities present. 

27th May Reflections: TanZhiYong

The touch screen panel at Vincom Center

The 71 year old women at An Dong

The street stall seller!

The shop owner(Pink) who had to juggle 2 jobs a day.

I learnt today that there are many differences in the types of shopping centers and stores in Vietnam. There are modern and traditional markets. Most of the time traditional stores are ran by families like in markets or street stalls

Firstly, there is a big difference in terms of the level of class of these shopping centers. In Vincom Center, the shops had air-condition,were very spacious had proper lighting and was very high class. But compared to the Wholesale market An Dong, the market was cramped, dim lighted, and very stuffy.Thus, because of these factors, there were not as many people at the Vincom Centre than An Dong Market.

Secondly, the other difference is the difference in the technology used. At An Dong, besides some fans, lights, there were not much technology used. But in Vincom Center, there were much better quality there, and even a touchscreen panel for customers to get knowledge about shops they might want to go to.

A observation I made today was the the people of Vietnam seem to be enjoying their life despite their daily life and work. They would rather live the lives happily than miserably and were very friendly. Firstly, we met a 71 year old lady whose parents were from China, but she grew up in Vietnam. She worked in An Dong since young and was very friendly and helpful to us. Then, we met some street stall sellers selling glasses. They were very grateful when we decided to buy some of their products. Lastly, after dinner, Kun Yao and me went to a clothes shop. A 36 year old wife and a mother of one was the store owner, and she had to juggle 2 jobs. One job in the wet market near our hotel in the morning and in the afternoon till very late at night, she had to take care of the clothes store. But despite that, she was friendly and had a cheerful smile.

Day 6 Reflections (May 27) — Lim Hao Yang

What I have learnt:

1. In Vietnam, the roadside/giant advertisements are able to be bigger than those of Singapore's, as well as in more areas.

For example, even in more "rural" areas of Vietnam, huge billboard advertisements can be spotted, these being bigger than any billboard advertisement found in Singapore. Also, in many of the buildings, there are many of these advertisements found along the outside walls.

2. The country's development is related to and dependent on the retail development, vice versa.

As Vietnam gradually develops, the requirements and demands of the population, in terms of quality, increases. Hence, more modern retail outlets and specialised stores will be set-up.

3. There is a stark difference in the local and foreign markets. This means that Vietnam is improving to reaching international standards.

We can see that the difference in the choice of escalators in the local hypermart & shopping mall and the choice of travellators in the foreign one, as well as the the inexistence of electronic movement aid in the An Dong Market, is quite wide. Such details are not too greatly taken care of in local areas. For example, in Lotte Mart, we can observe that the sides of the escalators have steel frames sticking out of the sides in case of any dropping of items from the top.

Day 4 Reflections (May 25) - Tam Wai Hang

Three things I have learnt:

1) I have learnt how to plant the mangrove roots into the Can Gio biosphere, and that which a large amount of effort, the greenery can be preserved in Vietnam.

2) I have discovered that the income gap between the rich and the poor is really wide. Some of the richer generations can live in big houses and enjoy luxurious living, but the poor live in very small houses and some even resort to building houses illegally. This has also let me realise how fortunate I am in Singapore after looking at the living conditions of some Vietnamese people.

3)  I have learnt the importance of preserving the forests located around the globe. It is everyone's role to contribute to preserving the green nature found around the earth, as this can help delay the green house effects that may occur on earth. One way the Vietnamese improvise is by building the Can Gio biosphere, which is a protected area for growing mangroves there, to preserve the greenery in the country. Residents are also signed on a contract to protect the forested areas around the Can Gio bioshphere.

Pictures:

 1)
A photo of me planting the mangrove roots.

 2)
A photo of a house owned by a richer generation











3) A picture of the owner of an area of mangroves and part of the forested area he owns

Day 6 Reflection - May 27

Here are three things that I've learned from today's journey.

1) The first thing that I've learned are the challenges facing urban growth in Ho Chi Minh City. The first challenge is managing traffic con

gestion while the other challenge is developin

g new urban areas. These challenges can be overcome by avoiding low-lying wetlands such as Rocket Houses, develop satellite centers, discourage or delay the shift to automobile while encouraging the use of buses as you can see from the picture below that there are lots of people riding motorcycles in Vietnam.

2) Another thing that I've learned today is that there are two types of market in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City and they are either Traditional or Modern. For Traditional Markets, such examples are wet markets and they are usually run by the family and another example of a traditional market are bazaar stalls. A real example of a Traditional Market is An Uong, a market we visited earlier.

A picture of the sweet and kind lady at the market.

As for Modern Markets, such markets are like supermarkets and hypermarkets. They are convenience chain stores, specialty chain stores and online stores. A real example of a Modern Market is Vincom Center. A center that we visited earlier and bought a few stuffs there.

A picture of how the Modern Market looks like. Just like any shopping malls in Singapore.

3) The last and final thing that I've learned from today's learning journey is that there are about estimated 60.6 million consumers in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City. Majority that takes up 27.9% of the consumers are 20-29 years old. They have this mindset of spending more and saving less and to buy high complicated product requirements. They also like to spend more money on buying

healthcare products from other countries as they are cheaper and not from Vietnam as they are "fresh". Furthermore, They appreciate quality products. Some famous food products at Vietnam are the lotus seeds, cashew nuts, mango and coffee. Finally, the last market we visited was the Lotte Mart. This is a Modern Market and a picture of the market is shown in the picture below.

Done by

Tay Kun Yao

Day 6 Reflections (May 27) - Benz Kew

A huge Lego trooper and me :)



Apple Premium Reseller in Vietnam



A converse shop in Parksons



3 things I have learnt:

1. The retail in Vietnam is split into 2 major markets: Traditional and Modern. Traditional consists of wet markets, family run stalls and bazaar stalls while the Modern consists of supermarkets and hypermarkets, convenience chain stores, specialty chain stores (Sells 1 brand only) and online stores. As Vietnam is a developing country, we can bargain and have discounts easily because the goods are not at a fixed price.

2. There are 60.6 million consumers in Saigon. Most of them (27.9%) are usually at an age of 20-29 years old as they do not have enough money to fend for themselves and start selling products to gain a profit and earn a living. The consumers usually spend more save less, have high complicated product requirements, spend more on healthcare and appreciate more on the quality of the products.

3. The retail development in HCMC is developing, pavement in the market is very narrow, very crowded and the foods are exposed to the surroundings. The market is humid and most are imitations of the original authentic products. The manufactured products in Vietnam are usually exported out to other countries and those sold in Vietnam are overrated, stolen or defects. The products sold are cheaper but fake. The supermarkets have better quality and more expensive products than wet markets. However, the souvenirs are found more often in traditional markets than modern markets as they attract tourists.

Day 5 Reflections (May 26) — Benz Kew

VSIP logo (Singapore's partnership with Vietnam)



The urban planning of the future VSIP 2



The entrance of the sewage treatment plant


3 things I have learnt:

1. Vietnam is an ideal place for investors because the Vietnamese has the necessary skill sets and abilities, are more intelligent compared to other developing countries (e.g Cambodia, Laos). Ho Chi Minh City is also not an earthquake prone zone, so it will not affect the business industry because there are no disasters. The city has about 7 million people, and many of them do not have job opportunities. Because of this, many will get a job (e.g Teacher, Cleaner, etc) when the new urban area is developed.

2. VSIP 1 has a vast variety of factories--From Kimberly-Clarke to Yakult--. The surrounding area is much like Singapore, with wide pavements and roads. The road plants and trees are also very similar to Singapore plants. Many lamp posts and gates look just identical to Singapore. The buildings are also built horizontally than vertically because land is cheaper in Vietnam-unlike Singapore where limited land space costs very expensive and building vertically is very costly because of the mechanical systems and lifts. The higher the building gets, the more expensive to build the lifts.

3. VSIP 2 is the future urban area of Vietnam--There is a cultural center, river, university and residential which can hold up to 125,000 people. It is international, which gives foreign people to live there. This year during September, the university will house 1,000 students while it prepares for teachers and workers. The designs of this area are all made by Singapore companies-Surbana, NUS School of Design and Research. There is also a copycat made by Vietnam called VHIP (Viet Houng Industrial Park) where the "dirty" stuffs are manufactured here (e.g Textiles) and a new sewage treatment plant. The roads were halfway constructed to the dirt tracks. It is very small unlike Singapore's, and this industrial park will take many years to catch up. The VSIPs appears to be in-charged by the company Becamex.

Reflection : Day 5 , GuangJun , Kimberly , Grace and Lincoln .

Photo 1, a model of the university.
Photo 2, the building of the university.
Photo 3, a model of VSIP 1.
Photo 4, a entrance to VSIP 1.

Introduction of VSIP 1 and 2 :

The Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) is a world-class industrial park that was initiated by the Governments of Vietnam and Singapore. In March 1994, the VSIP project was first proposed by former Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet to his contemporary Singaporean counterpart Goh Chok Tong. Almost two years later, the project was officially launched on January 31, 1996 in Singapore. On 14 May 1996, the two Prime Ministers gathered again at the project site in Binh Duong to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the first part of the project, VSIP I, (500ha). For the past 14 years of development, VSIP I has become the leading industrial park in Vietnam, and has proven to be a very attractive investment destination, technology transfer and environment protection for many multinational companies for the domestic as well as export markets.

Essential Question :

Q1 ) Why is it important for Singapore and her citizen to venture out ?

Singapore is a small island, and has no resources. This means that if she is to develop and expand, we have to venture out of Singapore. At other countries, like how we buy water from her neighboring countries, example being Malaysia. To develop, we need materials to build, we need to improve the economy. That is why we need to venture out, and not just focus on Singapore alone, to actually be able to properly get the resources and help needed to improve Singapore. Also, due to the size of Singapore, the human population is not big enough, and the expertise needed may not be around. This will mean that she has to venture out and get help from the people of other countries, which might have the talents that Singapore needs to develop.


2) What did Singapore do to develop her local talents?

Ministry of Education opened up serval schools to cater to potential people of different fields. For example, MOE open up School of Science and Technology to developed more professionals to increase the percentage of quaternary industry, increase the number of suitable people in research work.

The increase of research will increase the amount of knowledge the Singaporeans has. Singapore exchange the information they obtain with other countries, improving the relationship between the countries. Better relationship will allow Singapore to participate in trade with other countries easier, obtaining natural resources from them which we do not have.

The school focus more on innovation and entrepreneurship so that the students can adapt to the work environment will they grow up. The school also focus on communication skills so that the students can communicative with the locals and people from other countries. Effective communication will allow better partnership with other countries.

3) How does this integrated industrial park spanning a land area of 500 hectares with full infrastructure facilities and conducive operating environment operates ?

The total area of 2,545ha in the south, since 2007, after 10 years of operation, VSIP has announced its expansion to the north with two projects: VSIP Bac Ninh Township and Industrial Park Complex of 700ha (200ha for Township and 500ha for IP); and VSIP Hai Phong Township and Industrial Park Complex of 1,600ha (1,100ha for Township and 500ha for IP). Talking about the expanding investment of VSIP into township, Ms. Low, a representative of VSIP, said, "After 10 years of success in developing infrastructure for industrial parks, we have realized the investors’ demand for township infrastructure. Therefore, VSIP has decided to develop these two infrastructure projects to create the best investment environment for investors."


4) What are the unique features, purpose and design of VSIP ?

In comparison to the VHIP, the design of the industries in the VSIP area is a reflection of the industries and factories in Singapore, whether it is the roads or the signs. The area is also well planned and the factories have enough space and are not packed closely together. The roads are wide and have enough space to let trucks and large machineries to go to and fro. The purpose of the partnership between Singapore and Vietnam is to make a foundation to develop a part of Vietnam so that Vietnam would have an idea to what she can do to become a developed country like Singapore. The partnership has a few phases and as time goes by Singapore realised that there is a need to set a more steady foundation besides the factories and made master-plans for Universities and layout for the factories, residential areas and study areas.


5) What are the difference between VSIP and SIP ?

In terms of availability of the land usage , VSIP which is located in Vietnam will be able to make good use of the huge span of land to develop and construct different infrastructures for the Industries purposes. This enable the Industries to carry out their production more efficiently. However, availability of land is very limited in Singapore. Therefore, factories and building were built vertically to maximise the usage of the land. In terms of population, VSIP has more workers since they have a larger size as compared to SIP. Therefore, the productive rate may be much more faster and efficient.

Advantages :

The advantages of VSIP 1 and 2 is the 500 hectares of land, it is a large amount of land spaces used to construct and develop infrastructure facilities. So, more factories and industries can be constructed in VSIP to allow a larger production line to reduce cost spent on various aspects. Also, it provides a full range of infrastructures which allow many industries and factories to make good use of.

Learning Objectives :

This trip to VSIP 1 and 2 is to allow us to learn about the need for Singapore to develop her human and other capital in order to ensure her survival in the future.

What we have learnt :

From this trip to the VSIP we have learnt that even though we are two different countries, we can help each other to develop and the partnership improves the relationship between Singapore and Vietnam and this also widens Singapore's network. During the short drive through the VSIP, we observed that this small area is nearly a split image of Singapore, whether it is the roads or the arrangement of factories. Even the trees at the side of the road can be found at the side of most roads in Singapore.

We also found out that Singapore is helping to set the layout for a developed country and Vietnam would improve their country based on these small changes made by Singapore. From this we learnt that even though Singapore is a small country, we are developed and is able to help other countries as they have helped us. We learnt that to become a self sustainable city, it have to be well planned. The factories will provide jobs for the citizens. However, the workers will not want to travel a long way to his or her workplace. There will be a need to have housing provided for them. When they have a job and a house, they will need some entertainment in their daily life. Thus, the government will need to include greenery and facilities for entertainment purpose. If the workers are to move to the city with their family, health facilities and school will need to be included in the design of the city. The government will have to planned the location of each facilities so that it will be convenient for all.

Lastly, the VSIP project is a very huge project, and it is the collaboration between Singapore and Vietnam, to provide jobs for people in Ho Chi Minh City. That is due to the lack of jobs that can pay sufficient money to the citizens, thus the need for factory jobs like the ones in the VSIPs, which can help to increase their pay. The university built in the new city for the rich is going to accept 1000 students in the first phase of the construction, which has 3 phases. This university is built so that the graduates from the university would be able to find a job easily in the VSIPs.

Source : http://www.vsip.com.vn/default.aspx?pid=0002&mid=0002&mdl=1&lang=end

Day 4—Grace Tan Soo Woon

At the Can Gio Biosphere, I learnt the importance of saving the environment and the need of increasing the number of trees. Through the physical experience of planting the mangrove shoots, I learnt how hard the workers have to work to plant such shoots to save the earth.

From the trip to the house of a villager I learnt how hard it is to earn a living in rural areas and how hard it is to earn money from farming shrimp and taking care of part of the forest.

Lastly, I learnt that everyone has to play their part in taking care of the Earth and through the visit to the house of the villager who seemed happy even though his family was living in a kampong like area with resources barely enough to support the family I learnt to be grateful for what I already have and know that I am lucky to live in a developed country like Singapore.

Day 4 : Reflection , Lincoln Chu .

Photo 1 , a picture of the entrance of Can Gio Biosphere.
Photo 2, a picture taken from the top view of the Mangrove Forest.
Photo 3, a picture taken at the villagers house.

What I have learnt :

Firstly, conservation of forest is very important especially when deforestation is a crucial topic to all. The presence of forest doesn't just makes the color of the environment more vibrant, but it plays a bigger role. Deforestation leads to various topics, the use of land, global warming, greenhouse gases, habitats of animals, etc. Therefore, deforestation should not be a problem if everyone plays his part to contribute to the protection of forest. In this case, everyone can contribute to the Mangrove Forest Protection Management Board to protect and develop sustainability of the Can Gio Mangrove forest in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Secondly, water and oil are very limited since there is a wide use of it, this demand also lead to a high cost of resources. The family we visited spends at least half of their income to purchase petrol for transportation. 50% of a family income is something we will never find in Singapore.

Lastly, the residents, living and taking after the Can Gio Biosphere live a simple life. Although they may not be rich and living a luxurious life, they cherish and live their life to the fullest. Everyone of us should have the very basic gratitude towards what we have now, since all of us are blessed.

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.

Day 5 Reflections – Niklaus Teo

  I learnt that Countries that help with developing infrastructure gains not just in terms of financially, but also in terms of relationship. For example vietnam government tap on Singapore's expertise on town planning and architectural knowledge. They use Singapore’s knowledge to make VSIP 1,2, expansion, bac ninih and more. It is not only the vsip that is being built. Singapore do plan the surroundings around these vsip to develop the whole infrastructure in parts of vietnam and around the vsip to aid the productivity of the vsip. For example the roads around and in the vsip are big, smooth and are well marked, similar to roads of singapore. They also make the surroundings have greenery and even plan the drainage system. All of these are planned to aid the effectiveness in the industries to make it a competitive industries for companies to move to to produce their products. This shows the approach to planning must be as a whole with every consideration taken place. You cannot develop a product or system without considering every single aspect.  

  The second thing I learnt is that we must have the appropriate thinking when facing different situations. This is due to the fact that the initial mindset that you bring to decide on every situation will definitely affect the decision that you are going to make. In order for you to be a competitive in the real world and decide, for example whether to take up this business opportunity, you have to be able to take risks sometimes in order to gain. This type of entrepreneur  mindset can benefit the society in having rapid urbanization or developing new products or services for this Society. 

  Another thing I learnt was  the vsip 2 is a very good example of town planning for an industrial park. In vsip 2 they have a 1000 hectare of industrial zone that compromises of 300 hectare or industrial area(vsip 2) and 700 hectare of township. The town includes many amenities such as eastern international university, culture center, financial center and more. They will also make use of public transport to connect Ho Chi Min city from Binh Duong. The roads are also 33 metre in width to prevent traffic jams, thus making the personal transportation around town faster and also lesser air pollution due to the more efficient traffic flow. There are also schools ranging from primary schools all the way to universities so that the people living around the area are able to gain the necessary education in order to have skills to work for specific industries. This not only make it more appealing for other companies as there are a pool of labour to work in this companies. Looking back at the whole development of VSIP 2, it actually takes in consideration of all aspects of the city planning. I think overall singapore has made a very good decision to help vietnam with the urban planning as it can be a win win situation for both countries. Vietnam government will gain through the increase of job opportunities and the attraction of other companies. 

Day 5 Reflection - Davina

Picture 1 : The entrance of the Industrial Park

Picture 2 : Main building of the University in VSIP 2

Picture 3 : Monorail in VSIP 2

Picture 4 : A building in VSIP

- VSIP is a industrial park which will be built to be self sustaining and will have an
education system which is in line with the jobs that can be found in the industrial park
itself.

- The industrial park is an intertwine business of the Singapore and Vietnam government.
Thus the name Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park.

- The University was designed by Surbana, a Singapore company. Which will next time
send students from the university to the sports complex.

Day 3 Reflection - Davina

Picture 1 : A entrance to a part of Cu Chi tunnel

Picture 2 : A model of Cu Chi tunnel

Picture 3: The front view of Cao Dai Temple

Picture 4 : The side walkway of Cao Dai Temple

Picture 5: A trap which was used during the Vietnam war, made of bamboo

- Cao Dai Temple is a mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
Red symbolizes Confucianism ; Blue symbolizes Taoism ; Yellow symbolizes Buddhism.
The left eye is a symbol for this religion as the left eye is the closest to the heart.

- Chu Chi Tunnel is self sustaining , having meeting rooms, hospitals, dinning area even
a kitchen which is connected to a filter system so that the smoke that was created during
the process of cooking could not be seen by the enemy.

- Chu Chi Tunnel was built during the war time it aided the vietnamese who were less technologically advance to fight against the americans. Certain parts of the tunnel were crafted so small that only the small sized vietnamese could pass through.

Day 3: Reflections – Stacey Yip

Cao Dai Temple

This temple has an integration of 3 different religions: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The colours red, yellow and blue represents the religion respectively. The purpose of this fusion of different religions is to allow them to live in peace and harmony. The god in Caodaism is symbolized by the left eye. This was because the left eye is closer to the heart. On the ceiling, there were some pictures of 4 supernatural animals. The dragon represents power (of the King), phoenix represents beauty, unicorn represents prosperity and the turtle represents longevity. Catholic was also incorporated as there was a hierarchical system present in the temple. The temple had 9 steps where their God is at the highest rank. During prayers, caodaist would sit accordingly to their rank. The stars on the globe and on the ceiling represents the universe.

Chu Chi Tunnel

The southern Vietnamese men protected themselves using the traps they used to hunt animals to “trap” the invaders moreover they built themselves a complex network of tunnels. The soldiers were generally small in size and was able to hid in the tunnels they dug for themselves in times of need with clean air entering the tunnel through a hole on the surface. The tunnels were built using simple equipments: a hoe and a weaved basket. They used the Saigon River as an escape route and as a water source. People that were not fighting in the war helped find bomb shells and remake it into their own weaponry.

My experience during the short trip inside the tunnel was a memorable one. The enclosed walls made it very warm and uncomfortable. Movement was limited and cramp. I had this feeling of when the tunnel would end and we would finally be able to leave this dark place and see the light, I never thought that I would miss the light that much.