Virtual-Doug

Việt Nam in Transition

In a recent post, I wrote of my experiences at a countryside funeral.  I was told that this gentleman has lived in Sài Gòn for a number of years, and seldom returns to the home village.  During a photo-taking session, he stepped forward to take a picture.  He is wearing the traditional white mourning dress, and is using a camera phone to take the shot.  Tradition and modernity.

On May 5th, the commercial sale of used cars became legal.  Up to this point, the only way to buy a car was to get it from a dealer, or buy a used car from an individual. It is now possible to buy from a used car dealership – like this one. Autos can be (and usually are) imported from other countries.  This is the first used car lot in Huê, and presently the only auto dealership in the city.  (I understand that a dealership was opened a few years ago, but it only stayed open for six months or so.)  I’m not so sure the Vietnamese have considered the full ramifications of having more autos on their narrow and congested streets.  By the way – I doubt this dealership will sell many Porches or Harley-Davidsons.

How about a water park – one with an aquarium? Hô Thủy Tiên is just outside Huê.  I know there are bigger amusement parks in Việt Nam, but Huê is not a large city.  Inside the dragon is a nice little aquarium and folks can climb into the dragon’s mouth for a view of the area.  At the other end of the lake is a small stadium where music shows are held – replete with dancing water fountains.

Finally – look to the left of the giant television transmitter, and you see the twin steeples of the Phủ Cam Cathedral.  From the origins of the Catholic Church circa 1680 to modern television broadcasting; Việt Nam continues its transition.

Việt Nam in Transition: Transportation

Getting around a Vietnamese town conjures up touristy visions of xích lô drivers and rickety bicycles.  But in the emerging Việt Nam, the xích lô is going the way of the oxcart and the bicycle is rapidly being replaced by the môto.  The môto is the family mover and used for runs to the market.   In the two large cities of Sài Gòn and Hà Nội, the môto is in the early stages of being replaced by the automobile.

As always, be sure to click on the picture to see the full-sized version.

Automobiles are not unusual sights in Huê, though the streets are not clogged with them – yet.  The vast majority of them are Japanese brands one might see anywhere in the world.  Many auto makers, such as Toyota, Mercedes, and Ford have large assembly plants in the country.  If you visit Việt Nam using a tour agency, most likely you will travel in comfort in an air-conditioned van.  Even if you decide to “rough it” and travel by bus from city to city, you will ride in a modern Korean-made vehicle.  The day of the colorful, smoke belching, overloaded local bus is just about gone.

Commercial transportation is changing rapidly too.  In the north part of Huê, the railroad runs parallel to Highway 1, the main north-south artery for the entire country.  As is seen here, most of it is a four lane divided roadway that can handle heavy trucks, such as this Korean lorry used to haul steel construction materials for an Australian-Vietnamese joint stock company.

Việt Nam’s fledgling aviation sector is growing.  There are now two airlines serving most of the mid-sized cities.  Huê’s airport is south of the city at the old American base at Phu Bai.  The new control tower just went into service and handles both local traffic and planes flying through the area on high altitude routes.

So the next time you see the exotic photo of the Vietnamese pedicab known as the cyclo (xích lô), just remember that the real Việt Nam may be a bit different than expected.

Desk Art

Yeah, I know - - - I keep writing about how things are changing in Việt Nam.  But gimme a break – this is a just a fun observation..

When we first got here, all the desks in the classrooms were like this.  With big two-to-a-desk classrooms, it was hard to break classes into small groups for speaking practice, or role playing.  The desks were bulky and heavy, and most were not this nice.

But, beginning with the Fall 2005 semester, classrooms were changed over to foldable student desks that made it easy to quickly rearrange a room.  Nice change, eh?

However, I’ve found that there are some things common to all students to world over.  They get bored a create “desk art.”

It’s the same as you see in any school - - well, okay, maybe you won’t see Chinese characters on an Alabama school desk.

But there are lots of doodled flowers – and of course, romantic paeans to the student’s current love.

(Be sure to read the comments - some interesting observations have been made by Vietnamese.)

Việt Nam in Transition – The Countryside

It is conventional wisdom that the majority of Việt Nam’s growth is happening in the cites – principally in Hà Nội and Sài Gòn.  No argument from me on that.  Both cities are coming apart at the seams, as Antidote to Burnout pointed out recently.  Though recent hard data is difficult to come by, most figures from 2000 indicate about 80% of the population still lives in the countryside.  (EarthTrends Country Profile )

So – what’s happening in the countryside?

Undeniably, the standard of living in the countryside is lower than  it is in the cities.  It retains its bucolic beauty, yet change is happening here as well.  It is easy to find families still living in nasty little shacks with dirt floors, but they are rare.  Most people now live in a sturdy, if unremarkable, concrete home.

As you pass through small villages, you might notice beauty parlors.  Little ones with one or two chairs.  Not barbershops – but women’s hair salons.  Seeing these, you know disposable income is increasing.  Poor women don’t have the money to get their hair fixed.  A proud, but very shy, young lady showed me around her shop.  Somebody in her little village was spending dông in her shop.

The same is true with the Internet.  Though not as ubiquitous as in the cities, Internet cafés can be found in many villages.  Note there is only one motorbike outside, but lots of bicycles; another indication of transition.  Inside the only people you see are young.  Though they lack the sophistication of Internet users in Korea, Europe, North America, Japan, or other developed countries, they know chat, email, and finding web sites about popular singers.  There still are few web sites in Vietnamese, but that too is changing.

Where is this new money coming from?  Its not coming from traditional agriculture, which is primarily rice growing, nor from vegetable farming.  Its coming from new sources, as exemplified by these shrimp ponds.  Aquaculture is a major new sector of the Vietnamese economy, and shrimp farming is the biggest part of the sector.  (Business Briefs)  You need electricity for shrimp farming – the ponds must be aerated and water pumped.  But, you also need to get product to market, and new infrastructure is being built to help farmers do that. 

One more indicator:  the mobile phone.  No, you don’t see many people out there with a phone screwed into their ear, but change is still underway.  As I stopped for some fuel for my môto, I looked up - - and there it was - - the mobile phone tower.

Hey – they want to talk to Uncle Binh in Sài Gòn too!

Việt Nam in Transition – Change and the Youth

Rapid change is hitting the young people of Việt Nam.  Like teen-agers and twenty-somethings around the world, they want things to be different from their parent’s ways.  On the one hand, Việt Nam is bound by tradition, and most of the youth respect that.  On the other hand, they hear the siren song of The New – and they want it.  Huê is a  much more conservative city than either Hà Nội or Sài Gòn, yet the youth are adapting new ways very quickly even here.

An estimated 60% of the populace is under thirty years old.  Take a moment to digest that fact. This creates a veritable tidal wave of change that is being propelled by the young.  In their short lives, they have seen enough change to create rising expectations.  They are, and will continue to make social, economic, cultural, and political changes

This young lady is anything but traditional.  Looking at the red tinted hair, I suspect she enjoys watching Korean romance movies.  Korean fashion is all the rage so it is not unusual for the girls to forgo traditional long hair and color their hair to something other than black .  The very long dangling ear rings are not very traditional either.  However, she works in a local market, which is about as traditional as can be.

There’s a strong likelihood she bought her clothes in this store – or one like it.  There are a number of them in Huê, and of course hundreds of them in the big cities.  Most of my students dress like the young woman at an American university – a rather “studied casual” look of nice jeans or khakis, a nice t-shirt or top, and sandal-type shoes (with or without high heels.)  Their clothing transition hasn’t yet reached the point of being grungy, but they don’t dress up either.

Later that night, maybe our young lady and some friends will want some pizza.  Yes, you can get a pizza at Little Italy (where we had Thanksgiving dinner ) - - but, even better, you can have it delivered.  Okay – it ain’t exactly Domino’s, but it ain’t bad either.  Young Vietnamese in Huê still aren’t quite comfortable with pizza because they are not used to cheese – the texture is strange to their mouths.  But that is changing.  Its probably more of an issue with affordability than anything else.

Businesses in Việt Nam are no fools either.  Just as elsewhere in the world, companies recognize the power of youthful spending.  This picture was taken on campus.  Care to guess what they’re promoting?

ATM bank cards.  Can credit card hawking be far behind?

Việt Nam in Transition – Mobile Phones

12 million.

That’s how many mobile phones were in use in Việt Nam as of January 2006.  That means approximately 15% of Việt Nam’s citizens own a mobile phone.  As I was leaving class the other day, I looked at the back of the room and saw a student using her phone for text messaging.  Knowing there was a break between the end of my class, and the beginning of the next, she took advantage of the time to catch up with friends.

A couple of nights earlier, another student was visiting us in our apartment.  Can you guess?  Yep – the phone rang, there was a polite “Excuse me”, and she answered her call.

No – I wasn’t upset.  Mobile phones are so ubiquitous in Việt Nam, they are just an ordinary part of daily life. 

Our Guest House is in a newer area of Huê where some gorgeous new homes are located.  As yet, there are few (if any) zoning laws here, and folks have not made the leap to worrying about property values.  On my way to work, I pass by this huge new house – with a tall mobile phone antenna perched on top.  Hey – the newly rich of Huê must get their phone service somehow.

During a recent môto trip to the countryside, I was about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from Huê when I got curious.  I took out my mobile phone to see if I could call the Mystery Guest Blogger if I needed to.  Sure enough, I had five pegs on my phone.

It is much easier to bring telephone service to the countryside and remote areas of Việt Nam using wireless technology than it is to string wires to every home.  The growth is phenomenal.

And yes – you do see motorbike riders talking on their mobile phone while riding.

Mea Culpa

I bought into it.  I really did. 

Worse – I didn’t know I’d bought into it.

Let me tell you how I came to a realization.

Recently, I started putting some of my photos on PBase. This is a site for photographers, not just sharing snaps of the family birthday parties.  As I was wandering around some of the other galleries, I found one by Richard Calmes.  This gentleman is obviously an excellent photographer.  He began his career in 1969 while in Việt Nam.  He has some wonderful B&W shots on the site.  The man has a great eye.

I wandered further around PBase– and found more shots of Việt Nam.  On one photo, taken by another artist, Richard had commented that the shot was great, but then he went on to say that it looked like things hadn’t changed much in Việt Nam in the past thirty five years.

My heart cried.  “Oh – you are wrong!  Việt Nam has changed greatly and is continuing to change.  Please, Mr. Calmes – come back to Việt Nam, bring your cameras and your considerable skills, and take another look.  Việt Nam has changed.”

And that’s when I came to the realization that I was guilty of perpetuating the idea that Việt Nam has not changed.  I have been posting the cliché pictures – the ones you folks back in North America expect to see. The exotic.  The different.  The slightly strange.

On this blog, you see pictures of little old women wearing conical hats.  Shots of xích lô drivers.  Tourist pix of The Citadel.  Vietnamese food.  Ao dai.  There are stories about schools for street kids, riding motorbikes, duck-herders, or hard-working and diligent students. 

All of this is good – but it also does not represent all of Việt Nam.

This country is changing rapidly.  Very rapidly.  This is the second fastest growing economy in the world.  It is not a “backwards” country.  It is a developing country.  Obviously, there are lots of little old ladies wearing conical hats.  Equally so, there are much evidence of massive change in Việt Nam.

The expatriate chroniclers of life in Hà Noi  and Sài Gòn , such as NoodlePie,  Our Man in Hanoi , Antidote to Burnout, Down and Out in Sài Gòn,  Xe Maybe, and others write about this rapid change in the two big cities.  Huê is neither Hà Nội nor Sài Gòn – it is a third tier city of 300,000 - - yet change is happening here.

Grant me a bit of license here.  In the picture, the incense sticks are traditional Việt Nam.  The satellite dish is the emerging Việt Nam.  They are both part of the same country – the same people – the same culture.  The Vietnamese are trying to figure out how to blend the old with the new.  If history proves to be an accurate indicator of the future, Việt Nam will figure out how to be both old and new in a distinctly Vietnamese way.

All this being said. I am starting a new category with this post – Việt Nam in Transition.