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 5 Reflections (May 26) — Lim Hao Yang

What I have learnt:

1. It is important to not only invest in the main facilities that are to be set up, but also to consider the convenience of the people that are going to be using them.

For example, the Binh Duong New City not only the industrial park and university, but also a hospital, residential area, banks, etc.

2. Even though there are imitations of original innovations, the imitations may tend to be very different from the original in terms of its purpose.

For example, the Viet Huong Industrial Park attracts chemically-more-unsafe companies to set up their factories. Such factories includes sewage treatment, cloth dying, etc.

Picture of factory in Viet Huong I.P. taken by Hao Yang

3. Risk-taking is essential for societal growth. It creates new things which improves the economy and efficiency of life.

It is not always that we need to confirm our ability to complete tasks before agreeing to taking them on. For example, Singapore takes on project only if it is sure it is possible to be done properly and on time. Hence, Singapore misses many opportunity to improve.

Day 4 Reflections (May 25) — Lim Hao Yang

What I have learnt today:

1. Much petrol is consumed in Vietnam due to long distance travelling (through cars, motorcycles and/or boats)

For example, the family living in the Can Gio Biosphere needs to spend more than half his income (8 000 000 dong) on petrol alone to and from the city.

2. The government is doing much to encourage the protection of natural environment as well as getting the attention of locals towards such areas and its importance.

For example, the government "hires" people to take care of an area of the Biosphere. Also, the government lays down strict laws against the destruction of the environment. The former act is not common in many other countries, especially developed ones.

3. The behaviour and mindset of locals is largely dependent on the physical environment as well as the history of the area.

• Locals living in the north of Vietnam (Hanoi area) tend to be ore traditional and conservative due to their long history.
• Contradictory, locals living in the south of Vietnam (Can Gio area) are happier more generous and carefree because of the abundance of crops and plants in the area.
• Being in the centre of Vietnam, the locals experience more floods and hurricanes, caused by the sea winds bringing more moisture into the air in that area. Hence, the people are more hardworking and industrious so that they can earn money for rebuilding infrastructure and saving lives of family members.

Image taken on May 25, 2011, at Can Gio, by Lim Hao Yang

Day 3 Reflections (May 24) — Hao Yang, Benz, Hao En & Jurvis

Photo 1:
Air holes for breathing underground.

Photo 2:
Booby trap made out of bamboo.

Photo 3:
Temple sides has arches similar to the ones at the Islamic Mosque.

Photo 4:
The Cao Dai Temple, the architecture has a symmetry.

What have we learnt:

1 The fusion of the Eastern and Western cultures and religion in Cao Dai Temple can be seen through the arrangement of structures and the decorative. Examples of the arrangement of structures adapted from the West are the symmetrical arrangement of the 28 pillars, the balconies, the front structures and the tall figure (much like Notre Dame Cathedral), and the arches (Islamic Mosque). Examples of the decorative adapted from the West includes the ceiling painted with clouds and stars. Those adapted from the East includes the supernatural animals, as well as the colours used (yellow, blue, red). They believe that the Left Eye is closer to the heart which signifies the Yang, seeing everything that people do.

2 The complexity of the Cu Chi tunnels, booby traps and how the Liberation Army (Viet Cong) used guerrilla warfare to defeat the Americans. The traps were carved by bamboo sticks for spikes, they had air holes coming out of the ground to breathe and smoke vents. There was also an underground well where the Vietnamese soldiers could get clean water, as Americans polluted the water. The tunnels are unusually small; only the size of a Vietnamese back then could get through. The entrances, landmines and bunks are very well-covered with twigs and dead leaves, leaving the Americans extremely susceptible to the Vietnamese and have no knowledge in Guerrilla Warfare. This shows that the Vietnamese were very intelligent and had great team spirit and morale to get America's remnants of bomb shells and create their own weapons.

3 The Cao Dai Temple, although seems well-planned and intricate, has no master plans made before the building was constructed. It was constructed without architects or professionals, but rather local farmers. Hence it took 5 years to construct. After the building was done up, the government requested for its master planning, which then the people started to take measurements of the building and put it back into "planning stage". Our group observed that there were a lot of sand and the prayers wore a white costume.

Day 2 Reflections (May 23) — Hao Yang, Benz, Hao En & Jurvis

What we have learnt:


The government is only reducing the number of traffic jams via developing roads and infrastructure planning and registrations of vehicles (motorcycles).

Some of the buildings are influenced by the French, and they are called colonial buildings.

This can be seen through the symmetrical design, large open porch, arches and decorative features in the architecture. In addition, the France-lookalike traffic lights around the area also supports this.

District 2 is still in development. Its aim is to replace District 1 as an urbanized living area. The infrastructure and layout of District 2 is also more well-planned than District 1.