Day 6 Reflections - Carisa Chan

On the 6th day, we went retail marketing at shopping centres, supermarkets and markets. First, we went to Viacom Center, a shopping mall more on the higher end. Once we entered, we were greeted by the cool air-conditioning and the aisles were very spacious. The goods sold there are branded and much more expensive than those found elsewhere. This shopping mall is more modernized as compared to the markets we see on the streets.

Photo 1: Some shops in Viacom Center

Next we went to An Dong Market, where they sold all kinds of foods, clothes and ornaments. The goods sold here are rather inexpensive and it is acceptable to haggle here. The aisles here were not as spacious as compared to the Viacom Center and it was difficult to get through the aisles from one end to the other. We also saw some people pushing their goods down the stairs to transport it or store it somewhere else.

Photo 2: People pushing their goods down the stairs

Next we went to the Lotte Mart and the CO.OP Mart, and we found departmental stores, fast food restaurants and a huge supermarket inside. The things sold here are more expensive as compared those sold in CO.OP Mart. Also, Lotte Mart is owned by foreigners (Koreans) and CO.OP Mart is owned by the local people. Lotte Mart also has more shops and I felt that the place was more "filled" as compared to CO.OP Mart where there is only a few shops on the second floor and it was rather empty.

Photo 3: Outside of CO.OP Mart

DAY 04 - Casandra, Carisa, Jaime, PeiShan

Visit to Mr Long's Place

Ferry Ride- Home of a Family

Ferry Ride - Local boat, which was home to some

Can Gio Biosphere- Plants living the desert-environment

Can Gio Biosphere- Before Planting of the Seedlings

What we have learnt about Can Gio Biosphere?
The forest occupies up to 1/3 of Ho Chi Minh, 34 000Ha, and is located at the south. The forests experiences two seasons, the dry season from December to April, and the rainy season form May to October every year. The area has an average temperature of 27 degrees celsius, highest temperature of 33 degree celsius and lowest temperature of 22 degree celsius.

The mangrove forest was used as a military base during the Vietnam war. During the war, the Americans polluted the river along the forest with more than 4 million litres of herbicides to get rid of the Vietnam soldiers there. The forest was destroyed by the war.

After the Vietnam war, the government decided to recover the destroyed forest and to conserve it. In order to recover the forest, the local people had to buy mangrove trees from other provinces. Many of the local people participated and contributed in the recovery of the forest. It took them more than 10 days to transport the mangrove that they bought from the other provinces by boat. Even though they were able to get mangrove from other provinces, they lost half of the mangrove forests that they bought, due to the pests which infested those trees. When the trees grew, the people removed the small and weak trees to prevent overcrowding, for the benefit of the bigger and stronger ones.

After 1997, the government banned trespassers from damaging the forest. People were not allowed to affect the natural growth of the forest. The government then decided to split the forest into 24 parts for easy maintenance. Some parts of the forest were out of bounds, some were used for scientific research and residential purposes. Many household and agencies volunteered to take care of a plot of land of the forest. Local authorities subsidize a sum of money for the household to maintain a certain plot of land of the forest. Household who are maintaining the forest are suppose to protect the forest. They cannot allow trespassers to damage the forest by chopping down the trees. The household will be fined if they were to allow trespassers to chop the trees. If the household allow that to happen more than 2 times, the local authorities will consider to dismiss them.

What are the living conditions and lifestyle of Mr Long, who maintains a plot of the mangrove forest?
The household who maintain the forest live a simple lifestyle. Mr Long built a simple house for his family 10 years ago, out of wood. He uses wood to make the simple furniture in the house. In addition, Mr Long has the television as an entertainment and window to the outside world. We have observed that most of the furniture in his home is old and some are not in proper working order. In order to have clothes or have items of cloth material, Mr Long has a manual-sewing machine for them to make daily necessities such as clothes. In order to save money on water, we observed that the women in the house wash their dishes in a basin of water. This method enables them to reuse the water.

We also observed that some parts of Mr Long’s was an added to the house after the house was actually built. We infer that these add-ons are to improve the house, in terms of strengthening its structure, ensure security and beautifying the place. These improvements are such as the approximately two feet tall gate at the entrance of the house to keep their children inside the house for their safety. These add-ons are mostly recycled from another product.

Mr Long’s income is not very high. Fortunately, as his income is only sufficient to support his family and only have some savings, they do not have to pay taxes. Mr Long makes a living out of his shrimp farm and by taking care of a plot of mangrove forest. He will collect his harvest of shrimps and sell them to the markets in the city. On the other hand, the local authorities pay him for taking care of the plot of land and subsidies the family with electricity by providing solar panels. The local authorities also promise to build them a better home in future. Mr Long has the telephone and mobile phone, but cannot afford to use them on a regular basis due to his low income. He only uses them in emergencies to communicate the city.

On a daily basis, Mr Long has to sent his children to the city to attend school and for business. He stays far away from the city and hence, have to spent 1,000 dong on petrol to travel from home to the city.

What have we learnt?
From our visit to Can Gio Biosphere, we are glad that Vietnam is contributing to keeping the Earth green and clean by putting in effort, time and money to recover and conserve the mangrove forest which they lost during the Vietnam war. This trip taught us that recovering a forest is difficult. It was not easy to plant the seedling of the mangrove trees.
We have also learnt that we have to appreciate the fortunate blessings that we receive in our lives, because there are children like us out there who are not as fortunate as we are.

Day 5 Reflection - Carisa Chan

On the 5th day, we visited the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park, Becamex and Eastern International University. At VSIP, we can see some similarities of the VSIP and Jurong Industrial Park such as the roads and also how the location of the factories are planned. However, a difference between the two industrial parks is that in VSIP, the factories are bigger and usually consists of only 1 or 2 levels since Vietnam has a lot more land, whereas in Singapore, there is a lack of land so factories have to build upwards.

 

Photo 1: A model of the VSIP 1

We also visited Becamex to learn more about the Binh Duong New City. There we saw a model of the Binh Duong New City and we saw how some parts of the new city, such as the Eastern International University, residential areas, the main town area and the high tech science area (similar to our Biopolis).

Photo 2: A model of the Binh Duong New City 

 

Photo 3: Model of Eastern Internation University in Binh Duong New City

We also visited the campus of the Eastern International University, but it was still in the process of completing and it will be opened next year. Over there, we saw some of the classroom blocks and there was also a briefing about the school. We learned that the EIU was different from SST in such a way that EIU builds its campus first before recruiting students while SST recruits its students before building its campus.

Photo 4: Eastern International University campus

DAY 03-Group C: Casandra, Carisa, Jaime, PeiShan

Cu Chi Tunnel
Cao Dai Tunnel

Cao Dai Temple:

Caodaism:
Taoism
Confucianism
Buddhism
Catholic
Islam

When did Caodaism start?
It started at 1926.

How did it come around?
The people wanted peace between different religions in Vietnam. Therefore combined the religions. The Cao Dai temple in the Tay Minh is a combination of Western and Eastern designs. The Cao Dai temple has two symmetrical towels, influenced by the Notre-Dame Basilica. Even so, the temple is decorated with designs influenced by Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, such as dragons and the colours, red, blue and yellow.

Practices of Caodaism
Follower have to pray 4 times a day.
At prayers, followers have to wear a white outfit, with long sleeves.
During the prayers. the followers seat in the same posture as the Islam followers.
There is hiearchy within the temple. Within

Cu Chi Tunnel:

The vietnamese made booby traps and stole the americans’s bombs and reused them.
The tunnel is 200 km long.
The tunnel has been re-sized to fit the tourists
The tunnel has 3 levels; first level is 2 to 3 metres deep, second level is 5 to 6 metres and the third level is 9 to 10 metres deep.

What were the resource that were used during the war for survival?
They used simple tools such as a bamboo basket and spade to dig the the system of tunnels. They also used simple materials for the traps that they set, such as bamboo, dried leaves and spikes. As for their footwear, they recycle tires to make slippers out of them. They use the rubber from the tires as they are durable and can be removed from the spikes of the traps easily and when the belts of the slipper breaks, they can be replaced.

Why did they built the Cu Chi tunnel?
The people in Cu Chi needed shelter from their enemies, the Americans. Unable to stay above ground, they built the system of tunnels underground to hide from the enemies. They hide underground in the day or go into battle with the enemies and come out at night to set the traps to prepare for battle on the next day.

What have we learnt from the features of the Cu Chi Tunnel?
The Cu Chi Tunnel is a well, planned, complicated system of tunnels.
strong structure
The Cu Chi tunnel was a smart tactic for war

Day 2 Reflection - Carisa Chan

1 of the 3 things I learnt today is that the Vietnamese build their houses with a small front because the houses were charged according to the width of the front of the house. This led to many houses having a narrow front and a long depth. These houses also may have multiple levels to increase the space in the houses. These houses are called rocket houses or noodle houses.

Photo 1: Rocket houses packed closely together

Another thing that I have learnt today is that the religion of the Vietnamese people is not homogeneous and the people have several religions. Today we visited a Catholic church, Muslim mosque and Hindu temple. From these places, we can see a vast variety and the differences between the religions that the Vietnamese worship.

Photo 2: A picture of the Catholic church we visited

The third thing I've learnt today is that Vietnam has its electricity wires above ground, so they are suspended from pole to pole and is wired into the Vietnamese peoples' homes. There are some advantages of having the electricity wires above ground. One is that buses cannot be too tall or else they might hit the wires. Also, when it gets warm, the wires will expand and will suspend lower whereas when it gets cold, the wires will contract and the wires might snap if it is not suspended low enough originally.

 Photo 3: A picture of the electricity pole taken outside the Chinese temple we visited