Meanwhile, here are a few things that I've been up to.
I have been crazing over Icona Pop recently. I love their songs because the tune is so easy to get. Their songs are those which you can easily sing to and just dance to. I can actually imagine myself cycling in the middle of nowhere while blasting their songs.
Oh, and I went to Vietnam on a learning journey. I must say that I learnt quite a fair bit during this trip, as compared to the UK trip. Vietnam was very different from what I imagined. When I imagined cities, I thought Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh would be a second Singapore. However, it was just another version of Geylang. I guess I took Singapore's modern-ness for granted. Imagine how long and how much it took to transform Singapore from how Vietnam is now to our modernized, skyscraper-filled city. I didn't know how drastic the difference between our city and others could be. The trip to Vietnam made me realise that.
Vietnam's traffic is crazy as well. Motorcycles are the main form of transport, mainly because they are cheap and fast. I easily see 20 motorcycles for every one car. Pedestrian crossings are for show. No one actually stops for you when you want to cross. You simply cross the road at a predictable speed and hope that no vehicle actually knocks you down. As a Singaporean, even simply crossing the road is an exhilarating experience.
I would say that MNCs' reach on Vietnam is still not as pervasive as that of Singapore's. You can still see shops set up by locals. It is kind of like those kind of shops you still see in Kallang Shopping Centre. Yet, you can still guess that some get their goods from the same suppliers, as seen by the fact that they all sell the same type of souvenirs.
There are still a lot of farms. You easily see buffaloes, ducks, chickens when we drive by.
We went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It was interesting, but overtly serious in my perspective. Everyone had to walk in twos. You could only probably grab a glimpse of Ho Chi Minh's body for 30 seconds as you walk around him. In fact, while the significance of preserving his body is important, I do not know if it was truly worth it. Would Ho Chi Minh himself want his body to stay this way forever? Mr Tan (my teacher) said that Minh did not want his body to be preserved. And yet, it is still this way now. I am not sure, but it does say something about how Vietnam is very desperate to hold onto this piece of history. For what reason do I feel this sense of desperation, I do not know.
We were invited to the Vietnam National University where we attended a talk by Dr Tran. We discussed several issues regarding Vietnam. It is interesting how Dr Tran kept emphasising the importance of education and how Singapore is a very good model for them to study. I guess one of the important issues highlighted is how the farmers and the poor are going to rise up the social ladder given that uneducated parents might just want their children to work on the fields, and refuse to send them to school. What's made it worse is the fact that most good universities are in the cities, far from the rural areas. This is probably one problem Singapore did not have to contend with given our small size - a blessing in disguise after seeing Vietnam.
A few of us also spoke with the tour guide (away from the speakers) on several issues which are considered quite taboo. Apparently, the reason why Dr Tran was seemingly evading our questions was because there might be the existence of, get this, spies in the university. O_O Furthermore, turns out there was a recent release of information showing corruption in the government (I am not very updated on news of Vietnam so I knew nothing about it). I looked it up and apparently, they have a Vietnam Anti-Corruption Initiative Program. 55% of Vietnamese also felt an increase in corruption. Wow, talk about a lack of trust in the government. Furthermore, there has been a noticeable burnt smell in the air ever since we arrived. Environmental concerns are a problem as well. Vietnam indeed has a lot of problems to contend with and manage all the while developing as a nation. Despite such problems facing them, when I asked the tour guide if he still loves his nation, he replied vehemently with a 'yes'. To him, this is his country no matter what, for better or worse. Even if he goes overseas for many years, he believes he will still eventually return. He is not going anywhere. Such patriotism despite the pitfalls of a country is something I really admire, and wish for Singaporeans to have. Many Singaporeans do not feel such passion - they immediately contend with the idea of immigration whenever they feel stifled in Singapore.
I learnt a lot during this trip and I felt that I understood the culture of another country much better. I now know that each country has its own 'flavour'. While being there as a tourist, I felt so out of place in some sense. As if I could not 'connect' with Vietnam - how it looks like, how it works, how it smells, how it tastes like (food is important). I am still a person just LOOKING in, but am not involved in the activities on the other side.
Lastly, I also made a few friends there! I still remembering staying up til 4.30am playing Truth and Dare :D Had great fun with the people on this trip as well :)
Ha Long Bay
The Vietnam Trip Group (excluding Mr Tan haha - he was the photographer)
