Were delayed for 1.5 hours. Touched down at Changi Airport around 2.40.
Home Sweet Home.
Hope you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have been sharing my experiences with you.
Cheers,
Ben
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Day 10 September 27
Went down early for breakfast! Everything all packed and good to go. Those with extra cash decided to tip the front desk girl who has been really nice to us.
Were delayed for 1.5 hours. Touched down at Changi Airport around 2.40.
Home Sweet Home.
Hope you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have been sharing my experiences with you.
Cheers,
Ben
Were delayed for 1.5 hours. Touched down at Changi Airport around 2.40.
Home Sweet Home.
Hope you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have been sharing my experiences with you.
Cheers,
Ben
Day 9 September 26
I see the light at the end of the tunnel! 1 more day to go before we go back home.
Suited up again to meet the head of the Vietnam Centre of Commerce and Industries. He spoke on the history of Vietnam, how its economy has evolved from communism into capitalism, from barter trade to free trade.
After that we had time to see visit the Vietnamese Historical Museum. I learnt a great deal about the Vietnamese here. In fact the Vietnamese have Philippines and Polynesian links! Did you know that there are nearly 40 different ethnic minority groups in Vietnam? They range from the mountain dwellers to the seaside people. They speak different dialects though they understand the common Vietnamese.
Suited up again to meet the head of the Vietnam Centre of Commerce and Industries. He spoke on the history of Vietnam, how its economy has evolved from communism into capitalism, from barter trade to free trade.
After that we had time to see visit the Vietnamese Historical Museum. I learnt a great deal about the Vietnamese here. In fact the Vietnamese have Philippines and Polynesian links! Did you know that there are nearly 40 different ethnic minority groups in Vietnam? They range from the mountain dwellers to the seaside people. They speak different dialects though they understand the common Vietnamese.
Vietnam is so rich in history that archaeologist have even uncovered prehistoric remains of early humans. We then went to watch a water puppet show. It is a traditional Vietnamese arts show which was highly entertaining. They moved the puppets on the water so gracefully, and even had special effects. The water dragon could spit out water and breathe fire sparkles from its mouth. I think the puppeteers purposely sprayed water on us.
We then took a ferry to some island to visit VOPAK, dealing with oil and chemicals. VOPAK are tank terminal operators. They are also in the shipping barging and tank containers and warehousing industry. They lease out storage facilities to companies such as Shell to store their oil.
Went back to the hotel to have a debrief of the whole trip. Learnt a lot about the business environment as well as Vietnam as a whole. Shared our experiences over the past 9 days. It was a joy to have shared my colleagues' company as well as that of my lecturers.
Went back to the hotel to have a debrief of the whole trip. Learnt a lot about the business environment as well as Vietnam as a whole. Shared our experiences over the past 9 days. It was a joy to have shared my colleagues' company as well as that of my lecturers.
Day 8 September 25
We woke up early to attend this trade exhibition on healthcare, pharmed and herbs. It took place at the Ho Chi Minh Exhibition Centre, similar to our Suntec Exhibition halls and our Expo at Changi.
We were greeted by a performance of lion dance. It is exactly the same as what we get in Singapore but only this was a more daring performance. They jumped through a ring of fire and one guy even scaled a 30 ft pole.
The exhibition, as the name suggested, is concerned primarily with medicines and healthcare. They displayed many equipment, ranging from surgical tools to pill making machines. Other booths were promoting health supplements.
One disadvantage is that the people at the booths did not speak English, nor did their product literature contain any English. This can be difficult for international trade if both parties cannot communicate effectively, and English is the Lingua Franca of business.
A particular company had to adapt its business to survive in Vietnam. They are dealing with oilments and had to attach a holographic sticker in order to differentiate itself from immitation products.
Next we went to the VSIP, or the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park in Binh Duong province. This is a joint venture between the 2 governments. Infrastructure is so well planned that I suddenly thought of home. Buildings, roads, electricity, water, security is all provided. Even the way we were briefed was so Singaporean. Powerpoint slides which were prepared was clear and concise, straight to the point. This is the only industrial park that I know which has its own customs on site, and the highways lead straight to the ports which are nearby. So efficient.
We went around the park and we visited Cassarado, a Singaporean furniture manufacturing company. They briefed us on why they chose Vietnam over China and we learnt that there were many attractive incentives offered by the government. One such incentive is the export lisence. This grants the holder 100% tax free for the first 4 years, and 50% tax for the subsequent 7 years.
We were greeted by a performance of lion dance. It is exactly the same as what we get in Singapore but only this was a more daring performance. They jumped through a ring of fire and one guy even scaled a 30 ft pole.
The exhibition, as the name suggested, is concerned primarily with medicines and healthcare. They displayed many equipment, ranging from surgical tools to pill making machines. Other booths were promoting health supplements.
One disadvantage is that the people at the booths did not speak English, nor did their product literature contain any English. This can be difficult for international trade if both parties cannot communicate effectively, and English is the Lingua Franca of business.
A particular company had to adapt its business to survive in Vietnam. They are dealing with oilments and had to attach a holographic sticker in order to differentiate itself from immitation products.
Next we went to the VSIP, or the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park in Binh Duong province. This is a joint venture between the 2 governments. Infrastructure is so well planned that I suddenly thought of home. Buildings, roads, electricity, water, security is all provided. Even the way we were briefed was so Singaporean. Powerpoint slides which were prepared was clear and concise, straight to the point. This is the only industrial park that I know which has its own customs on site, and the highways lead straight to the ports which are nearby. So efficient.
We went around the park and we visited Cassarado, a Singaporean furniture manufacturing company. They briefed us on why they chose Vietnam over China and we learnt that there were many attractive incentives offered by the government. One such incentive is the export lisence. This grants the holder 100% tax free for the first 4 years, and 50% tax for the subsequent 7 years.
Day 7 September 24
It was back to normal classes again. We left the hotel to visit Saigon Tech, which is an IT hub where several big IT players are based in. Within the compound, it has their own facilities such as water, electricity and even housing. We went to a training centre within the compound.
The school focuses on business and IT. Operations began in 2001, they enroll up to 400 students a year and have 3000 students under the school. The school follows the American system of education, after all, they are linked to the HCCS system or the Houston Community College System. Like our local polytechnics, the school is project based, and encourage their students to learn through hands on projects and industry attachment programs.
The school has a very high selection criteria for the students. Students are evaluated by taking several tests. They have to first take a Vietnamese equivalent of the SATs paper, then go for an interview. They would also have to take a Mathematics SAT paper before taking an English written test. The students would also have to pass their TOFEL with 550 points or more.
Such is the dedication to equip their students with the English Language that if students are caught speaking Vietnamese or any language besides English, they would have 2% of their GPA cut off! In fact they have signage everywhere along the corridors which reminds students to speak English.
On the way to our next destination, Carh was telling us that the Vietnamese government have changed their labour laws to decrease working hours. This is to encourage the Vietnamese to go out and spend more. They also have 3 to 6 months of parental leave to encourage further spending.
Besides that, the Vietnamese government has also relaxed the laws pertaining to the stock market. In fact now the government is encouraging its people to invest in local firms to help them grow. Exciting times for Vietnamese I must say.
Next we went to the Ho Chi Minh Wholesale Centre. It is a show room which displays products manufactured by local producers. According to Carh, the tenants of the wholesale Centre only have to pay a nominal fee for them to print out the advertisement. This is an effort by the government to help its people out. Those tenants are producers with needs. For example the handicrafts are produced by the disabled. However, there are quality control measures as well. Those who want to apply for a display lot in the wholesale centre must meet certain quality standards. All items on display must be ordered in bulk.
We had some time to spare to visit the Reunification Palace today. It was really interesting to be at a place which holds such great historical significance. We stood at the gates where the tanks crashed through, which forced the President to surrender. The palace itself was grand with many rooms, even underground bunkers to protect the president from bombings. We watched a 45 minute video of the coup before we went back to the hotel to prepare for the networking dinner with the Singapore Business Group.
It is an informal business group formed 10 years ago, to foster a home-away-from-home and to help Singaporean businessmen learn from past experiences. They are actively involved in charity work too.
Those present were Mr. Goh Boon Keen, Mr. Benjamin Yap, Mr. Kim Kian Tat, Mr. S K Niar and Mr. Peter Chong. My group was joined by Mr. Yap for dinner. He's a lawyer from a Singapore law firm and he gave us many practical advise on investing in Vietnam.
We were told to have an open mind about Vietnam and not come with any preconceived ideas. We must learn how to take calculated risks too, but first we must understand the environment and culture of Vietnam. It helps greatly to understand the laws and regulations pertaining to the industries too.
One thing about the Vietnamese is that they are genuinely nice people, and they don't like to disappoint people, therefore they may say "yes" to demands which they know can't be met. And it may cause some problems when it comes to deadlines and the projects are left unfinished.
One piece of advise I would take with me is that things do not work the same way as back in Singapore. And doing business overseas is even harder because the parent company does not understand the constraints and situations faced by those in the foreign company.
I personally am interested in law, and it was a pleasure to listen to Mr. Yap tell us his stories on how the legal system works here and how does international law work in general. I learnt that the Vietnamese adopted their legal system from the French, Chinese and the Soviets. They do not practice the law of precedence and go by a case by case basis. It was interesting to note that foreigners are not allowed to attend court, so Mr. Yap has his assistant to represent him.
Dinner for once was superb. We had Chinese food!
The school focuses on business and IT. Operations began in 2001, they enroll up to 400 students a year and have 3000 students under the school. The school follows the American system of education, after all, they are linked to the HCCS system or the Houston Community College System. Like our local polytechnics, the school is project based, and encourage their students to learn through hands on projects and industry attachment programs.
The school has a very high selection criteria for the students. Students are evaluated by taking several tests. They have to first take a Vietnamese equivalent of the SATs paper, then go for an interview. They would also have to take a Mathematics SAT paper before taking an English written test. The students would also have to pass their TOFEL with 550 points or more.
Such is the dedication to equip their students with the English Language that if students are caught speaking Vietnamese or any language besides English, they would have 2% of their GPA cut off! In fact they have signage everywhere along the corridors which reminds students to speak English.
On the way to our next destination, Carh was telling us that the Vietnamese government have changed their labour laws to decrease working hours. This is to encourage the Vietnamese to go out and spend more. They also have 3 to 6 months of parental leave to encourage further spending.
Besides that, the Vietnamese government has also relaxed the laws pertaining to the stock market. In fact now the government is encouraging its people to invest in local firms to help them grow. Exciting times for Vietnamese I must say.
Next we went to the Ho Chi Minh Wholesale Centre. It is a show room which displays products manufactured by local producers. According to Carh, the tenants of the wholesale Centre only have to pay a nominal fee for them to print out the advertisement. This is an effort by the government to help its people out. Those tenants are producers with needs. For example the handicrafts are produced by the disabled. However, there are quality control measures as well. Those who want to apply for a display lot in the wholesale centre must meet certain quality standards. All items on display must be ordered in bulk.
We had some time to spare to visit the Reunification Palace today. It was really interesting to be at a place which holds such great historical significance. We stood at the gates where the tanks crashed through, which forced the President to surrender. The palace itself was grand with many rooms, even underground bunkers to protect the president from bombings. We watched a 45 minute video of the coup before we went back to the hotel to prepare for the networking dinner with the Singapore Business Group.
It is an informal business group formed 10 years ago, to foster a home-away-from-home and to help Singaporean businessmen learn from past experiences. They are actively involved in charity work too.
Those present were Mr. Goh Boon Keen, Mr. Benjamin Yap, Mr. Kim Kian Tat, Mr. S K Niar and Mr. Peter Chong. My group was joined by Mr. Yap for dinner. He's a lawyer from a Singapore law firm and he gave us many practical advise on investing in Vietnam.
We were told to have an open mind about Vietnam and not come with any preconceived ideas. We must learn how to take calculated risks too, but first we must understand the environment and culture of Vietnam. It helps greatly to understand the laws and regulations pertaining to the industries too.
One thing about the Vietnamese is that they are genuinely nice people, and they don't like to disappoint people, therefore they may say "yes" to demands which they know can't be met. And it may cause some problems when it comes to deadlines and the projects are left unfinished.
One piece of advise I would take with me is that things do not work the same way as back in Singapore. And doing business overseas is even harder because the parent company does not understand the constraints and situations faced by those in the foreign company.
I personally am interested in law, and it was a pleasure to listen to Mr. Yap tell us his stories on how the legal system works here and how does international law work in general. I learnt that the Vietnamese adopted their legal system from the French, Chinese and the Soviets. They do not practice the law of precedence and go by a case by case basis. It was interesting to note that foreigners are not allowed to attend court, so Mr. Yap has his assistant to represent him.
Dinner for once was superb. We had Chinese food!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Day 6 September 23
Today everyone got up early as we were all really excited to visit the famous/infamous Chu Chi tunnels. Stopped by a rice paper making outlet first! It was incredible to see how could such thin rice paper be made.
The tunnels were used by the Viet Kongs to fight the US forces. Many VietKongs died from the large scale bombings, and therefore they decided to live underground to get shelter from the aerial bombardments. Such is the will to live, which is why the Vietnamese are known to be survivors.
Life was tough. They survived by living on 4 rules. 1) No Sound. 2) No Smell. 3) No Trail. 4) No Smoke. The VietKong soldiers managed to accomplish all those things, which is probably why they managed to win a superpower.
The tunnels could reach 15 m deep, and with each level, the paths got smaller and smaller. Another reason is that the holes were designed to be narrow so that the bigger built American soldiers could not squeeze through or would get stuck halfway, vulnerable to enemy fire.
Air holes were tunneled through termite nests so that the dogs would not be able to sniff out the entrances to the tunnels. They had to learn how to communicate silently as the Americans dropped tree like voice detectors which were able to pinpoint Vietkong positions. So if a VietKong soldier speaks too loudly, the next thing he knows, a bomber would make a strafing run. Hence the first rule, No Sound.
No smell. How do they get rid of all the smoke fumes from cooking and the pungent smell of the toilets? The Vietkong cooked their food at night so that the fumes would not be so easily seen. As for the smell, they actually poured sulfur over to mask the smell and burned it as well. All the fumes would be funneled into this smoke disperser. Their chimneys do not disperse smoke from the same location. Rather, smoke is dispersed by using a manhole to cover the air hole, so smoke disperses faster, hence being less visible.
We saw the ingenuity of the Vietkong, making deadly traps out of primitive weapons, and they were really effective against the highly armed American forces. These traps were not meant to kill the soldier instantly, but rather incapacitate them and force other American soldiers to rescue their screaming comrades. Then, the VietKong soldiers would swarm to the source of the noise and eliminate all enemies in the area.
Throughout the area, there were many bomb craters to be seen. Also there were some trapdoors which were really well concealed. A VietKong soldier on the run can mysteriously disappear under a trapdoor small enough for a skinny man to squeeze through on the floor and reappear somewhere else.
We went down to a section of the Chu Chi tunnel. 70 metres sounds easy, but when actually crawling through, it was really tough. It can get quite unnerving and uncomfortable. I found it quite hard to believe that the tunnels were acutally twice its original size because the government had to expand it to enable bigger sized tourists to experience the Chu Chi tunnel. And we were only on the second level.
The most exciting thing about the entire trip to the Chu Chi tunnels was the firing range. We heard many "pop pop pop" sounds throughout our walk around the complex, wondering whether it was gunfire. Our suspicions were confirmed when we got to the firing range. Boy we were excited. The gun of choice was the AK 47. I myself bough 5 rounds for 10 Singapore Dollars. It was worth the money.
Went for lunch, then headed down to this huge complex, a Cau Dai temple. Cau Dai is an almagamation of many religions, including christianity, catholism, budhism, hinduism, taoism, confusionism amongst others. They believe that there is only one god, and he sends his ambassadors in the forms of the gods we know of today.
The temple was built in 1933 and completed in 1955. At full capacity it can sit 800 people. The positions taken denote the rank of the follower. There are 3 stages to Caudaism. 1st stage : Don't know who to pray to. 2nd stage : Know that there are a lot of Gods. Last stage : Realise that there is only One true God.
Caudaism combined many practices from all the different religions. For example, in the prayer, the men sit on the right while the ladies on the left. This is from confusionism, which preaches order. The hierachy of how they are seated is something like that of the vatican, with the main leader as the "pope". All followers are vegans and unmarried. They also had colour codes. Red for confusionism, Blue for Taoism and Yellow for Budhism. Those in white did not belong to any section of the "Church". And the purpose of prayers were noted by the headgear the worshipers were wearing. Those wearing black were mourners, praying for someone who has just passed on. Mourning usually lasts a month.
So how do the followers determine who to worship? In the past they used to use 15 year old male virgins to decide. They were put though a trance and were used as a medium to connect to the spiritual world. And whoever the medium is connected to would speak to the leaders of Caudai. Carh said that the design of the temple was sent from "God" through a medium as well. However this practice has been outlawed by the government as they do not want to have any religious unrest, especially when leaders can be politically motivated.
There are 3 million followers to date, and they strongly believe that if there is only one religion, there would not be any religious conflict.
After that we headed back to town to visit Saigon Square, another wholesale market.
The tunnels were used by the Viet Kongs to fight the US forces. Many VietKongs died from the large scale bombings, and therefore they decided to live underground to get shelter from the aerial bombardments. Such is the will to live, which is why the Vietnamese are known to be survivors.
Life was tough. They survived by living on 4 rules. 1) No Sound. 2) No Smell. 3) No Trail. 4) No Smoke. The VietKong soldiers managed to accomplish all those things, which is probably why they managed to win a superpower.
The tunnels could reach 15 m deep, and with each level, the paths got smaller and smaller. Another reason is that the holes were designed to be narrow so that the bigger built American soldiers could not squeeze through or would get stuck halfway, vulnerable to enemy fire.
Air holes were tunneled through termite nests so that the dogs would not be able to sniff out the entrances to the tunnels. They had to learn how to communicate silently as the Americans dropped tree like voice detectors which were able to pinpoint Vietkong positions. So if a VietKong soldier speaks too loudly, the next thing he knows, a bomber would make a strafing run. Hence the first rule, No Sound.
No smell. How do they get rid of all the smoke fumes from cooking and the pungent smell of the toilets? The Vietkong cooked their food at night so that the fumes would not be so easily seen. As for the smell, they actually poured sulfur over to mask the smell and burned it as well. All the fumes would be funneled into this smoke disperser. Their chimneys do not disperse smoke from the same location. Rather, smoke is dispersed by using a manhole to cover the air hole, so smoke disperses faster, hence being less visible.
We saw the ingenuity of the Vietkong, making deadly traps out of primitive weapons, and they were really effective against the highly armed American forces. These traps were not meant to kill the soldier instantly, but rather incapacitate them and force other American soldiers to rescue their screaming comrades. Then, the VietKong soldiers would swarm to the source of the noise and eliminate all enemies in the area.
Throughout the area, there were many bomb craters to be seen. Also there were some trapdoors which were really well concealed. A VietKong soldier on the run can mysteriously disappear under a trapdoor small enough for a skinny man to squeeze through on the floor and reappear somewhere else.
We went down to a section of the Chu Chi tunnel. 70 metres sounds easy, but when actually crawling through, it was really tough. It can get quite unnerving and uncomfortable. I found it quite hard to believe that the tunnels were acutally twice its original size because the government had to expand it to enable bigger sized tourists to experience the Chu Chi tunnel. And we were only on the second level.
The most exciting thing about the entire trip to the Chu Chi tunnels was the firing range. We heard many "pop pop pop" sounds throughout our walk around the complex, wondering whether it was gunfire. Our suspicions were confirmed when we got to the firing range. Boy we were excited. The gun of choice was the AK 47. I myself bough 5 rounds for 10 Singapore Dollars. It was worth the money.
Went for lunch, then headed down to this huge complex, a Cau Dai temple. Cau Dai is an almagamation of many religions, including christianity, catholism, budhism, hinduism, taoism, confusionism amongst others. They believe that there is only one god, and he sends his ambassadors in the forms of the gods we know of today.
The temple was built in 1933 and completed in 1955. At full capacity it can sit 800 people. The positions taken denote the rank of the follower. There are 3 stages to Caudaism. 1st stage : Don't know who to pray to. 2nd stage : Know that there are a lot of Gods. Last stage : Realise that there is only One true God.
Caudaism combined many practices from all the different religions. For example, in the prayer, the men sit on the right while the ladies on the left. This is from confusionism, which preaches order. The hierachy of how they are seated is something like that of the vatican, with the main leader as the "pope". All followers are vegans and unmarried. They also had colour codes. Red for confusionism, Blue for Taoism and Yellow for Budhism. Those in white did not belong to any section of the "Church". And the purpose of prayers were noted by the headgear the worshipers were wearing. Those wearing black were mourners, praying for someone who has just passed on. Mourning usually lasts a month.
So how do the followers determine who to worship? In the past they used to use 15 year old male virgins to decide. They were put though a trance and were used as a medium to connect to the spiritual world. And whoever the medium is connected to would speak to the leaders of Caudai. Carh said that the design of the temple was sent from "God" through a medium as well. However this practice has been outlawed by the government as they do not want to have any religious unrest, especially when leaders can be politically motivated.
There are 3 million followers to date, and they strongly believe that if there is only one religion, there would not be any religious conflict.
After that we headed back to town to visit Saigon Square, another wholesale market.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Day 5 September 22
The one distinct difference between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi is the fluency of spoken English. The staff at the hotel lobby spoke decent English, and were able to communicate well with us. Compared to our experiences in Hanoi, we even had difficulty ordering water and ice.
I think we were happy to start of our Saigon adventure with our sightseeing weekend.
We boarded the coach to the Mengkong Delta, the "rice bowl" of Vietnam. Our new tour guide, Carh, which sounds like the automobile. He briefed us on the history of Vietnam, about President Ho Chi Minh he died on 2nd September 1969, which coincidentally is the National day of Vietnam. While the Vietnamese do hang the Vietnamese flags, they do not wear red, an auspicious colour, as a sign of respect.
He spoke about China's influence, Cambodia's occupation of Vietnam, followed by the French colonization and Soviet rule. The Soviet Union supported the Vietnamese for 15 years, between 1975 to 1990. When it collapsed, Vietnam had to stand on its own, develop its own economy and provide enough food for its people. Hence they had no choice but to begin opening trade with the outside world. Singapore actually supported them by buying their grains.
Anyway compared to the Ho Chi Minh 10 years ago to today, there has been massive improvements. Roads have been built, new apartments have been constructed to address the overcrowding problem in the old city.
New cities such as Fu May Hung is one example of the development of expensive housing to cater to the richer people. According to Carh, the entire area was reclaimed swamp land. In order to facilitate better transportation networks, even an underground train system similar to Singapore's very own MRT to shuttle the thousands of workers commuting in and out of town.
Other less expensive properties have been constructed to house labourers, which are mostly on the outskirts of town. They look remarkably like our HDB blocks. A superhighway, the National Highway No.1, links the North and South cities together. A newer and bigger highway is being built to accomodate the overcrowding.
Reputable schools such as the Royal Melbourne Info Technology Uni have also set up branches in Vietnam. Carh said that nowadays, the Vietnamese understand the importance of finance and therefore finance is one of the hottest degrees which students want to take. Business is another hot course sought after by students, which shows how enterprising Vietnamese can be.
The main economy of Vietnam is agriculture, mainly dealing with rice, seafood and crude oil, although they are also known to produce clothes, silk embroideries and handicrafts.
One thing Vietnam is famous for is also its "marriage" exports. Many foreign men come over to Vietnam to find a Vietnamese bride. Carh even gave us a website, vietnameseladies dot com to browse and select a potential spouse. Men usually choose girls between the age of 18 to 24 years old. Funnily enough there is also a market for Vietnamese men too. Foreign spinsters or widows actually pay to find a nice husband. According to Vietnamese tradition, it would be the groom's duty to pay for the wedding ceremony.
As we all know, Vietnam's population is the one of the youngest in the world, therefore the government have implemented birth control campaigns, such as the 2 child policy.
Anyway as mentioned before, the teachers in Vietnam are venerated. Therefore it is customary for students to give their teachers mooncakes on Mid Autumn Festival as a sign of respect. Imagine the amount of mooncakes a teacher teaching a class of 30 students will get! Funnily enough, we did receive mooncakes from Hanoi Open University. Had them on the flight over to Ho Chi Minh but it was too hard to consume.
Another thing about the Vietnamese women is that they strongly value beauty. According to Carh, they spend a lot on cosmetic products, especially whiteners. As mentioned before, Vietnamese like their women fair. Therefore most of the pillion riders on motorbikes cover their entire bodies with clothes to prevent them from getting too dark. Carh said that his sister uses her whitener sparingly because she wants to save money. Therefore only her face is white, whereas the rest of her body is dark!
Got to the Mengkong Delta. The river has been the transportation network of Vietnam for centuries. The use of it has polluted the river badly. Silts have formed as well. We took a short boat ride to Unicorn Island. Can anyone guess what are the Island's names? *Hint the four mystical animals discussed earlier.
We sampled some tropical fruits, and even took a short boat ride along a stream to sample some honey tea, have a taste of some tropical fruits and enjoyed a traditional music performance. We bought our souveniers here, including those who actually tried "Cobra Juice", a Vietnamese aphrodisiac! Not sure how the guys fared after that.
Went back to the hotel, and we were allowed to explore Ben Tahn Market. The place is an indoor market, crowded with rows and rows of shops selling everything from clothes to vegetables. Everything is a bargain.
We then went to Pho 2000, a Vietnamese franchise which sells Vietnamese noodles. I had the beef bowl noodle, which was awesome. Apparently, Bill Clinton came to patronize this outlet as we saw his photo hung on the walls.
After that we were given 20,000 VND to pay our rickshaw drivers. We were given a 40 minute tour of the old city on a rickshaw. The ride was crazy, where zillions of motorcycles were zooming past us left right and centre. I don't know how I managed to get out of that trip alive but I did enjoy the majestic Ho Chi Minh night scene.
Checked back in the hotel for a early night in, ordered room service before that! What a luxury.
I think we were happy to start of our Saigon adventure with our sightseeing weekend.
We boarded the coach to the Mengkong Delta, the "rice bowl" of Vietnam. Our new tour guide, Carh, which sounds like the automobile. He briefed us on the history of Vietnam, about President Ho Chi Minh he died on 2nd September 1969, which coincidentally is the National day of Vietnam. While the Vietnamese do hang the Vietnamese flags, they do not wear red, an auspicious colour, as a sign of respect.
He spoke about China's influence, Cambodia's occupation of Vietnam, followed by the French colonization and Soviet rule. The Soviet Union supported the Vietnamese for 15 years, between 1975 to 1990. When it collapsed, Vietnam had to stand on its own, develop its own economy and provide enough food for its people. Hence they had no choice but to begin opening trade with the outside world. Singapore actually supported them by buying their grains.
Anyway compared to the Ho Chi Minh 10 years ago to today, there has been massive improvements. Roads have been built, new apartments have been constructed to address the overcrowding problem in the old city.
New cities such as Fu May Hung is one example of the development of expensive housing to cater to the richer people. According to Carh, the entire area was reclaimed swamp land. In order to facilitate better transportation networks, even an underground train system similar to Singapore's very own MRT to shuttle the thousands of workers commuting in and out of town.
Other less expensive properties have been constructed to house labourers, which are mostly on the outskirts of town. They look remarkably like our HDB blocks. A superhighway, the National Highway No.1, links the North and South cities together. A newer and bigger highway is being built to accomodate the overcrowding.
Reputable schools such as the Royal Melbourne Info Technology Uni have also set up branches in Vietnam. Carh said that nowadays, the Vietnamese understand the importance of finance and therefore finance is one of the hottest degrees which students want to take. Business is another hot course sought after by students, which shows how enterprising Vietnamese can be.
The main economy of Vietnam is agriculture, mainly dealing with rice, seafood and crude oil, although they are also known to produce clothes, silk embroideries and handicrafts.
One thing Vietnam is famous for is also its "marriage" exports. Many foreign men come over to Vietnam to find a Vietnamese bride. Carh even gave us a website, vietnameseladies dot com to browse and select a potential spouse. Men usually choose girls between the age of 18 to 24 years old. Funnily enough there is also a market for Vietnamese men too. Foreign spinsters or widows actually pay to find a nice husband. According to Vietnamese tradition, it would be the groom's duty to pay for the wedding ceremony.
As we all know, Vietnam's population is the one of the youngest in the world, therefore the government have implemented birth control campaigns, such as the 2 child policy.
Anyway as mentioned before, the teachers in Vietnam are venerated. Therefore it is customary for students to give their teachers mooncakes on Mid Autumn Festival as a sign of respect. Imagine the amount of mooncakes a teacher teaching a class of 30 students will get! Funnily enough, we did receive mooncakes from Hanoi Open University. Had them on the flight over to Ho Chi Minh but it was too hard to consume.
Another thing about the Vietnamese women is that they strongly value beauty. According to Carh, they spend a lot on cosmetic products, especially whiteners. As mentioned before, Vietnamese like their women fair. Therefore most of the pillion riders on motorbikes cover their entire bodies with clothes to prevent them from getting too dark. Carh said that his sister uses her whitener sparingly because she wants to save money. Therefore only her face is white, whereas the rest of her body is dark!
Got to the Mengkong Delta. The river has been the transportation network of Vietnam for centuries. The use of it has polluted the river badly. Silts have formed as well. We took a short boat ride to Unicorn Island. Can anyone guess what are the Island's names? *Hint the four mystical animals discussed earlier.
We sampled some tropical fruits, and even took a short boat ride along a stream to sample some honey tea, have a taste of some tropical fruits and enjoyed a traditional music performance. We bought our souveniers here, including those who actually tried "Cobra Juice", a Vietnamese aphrodisiac! Not sure how the guys fared after that.
Went back to the hotel, and we were allowed to explore Ben Tahn Market. The place is an indoor market, crowded with rows and rows of shops selling everything from clothes to vegetables. Everything is a bargain.
We then went to Pho 2000, a Vietnamese franchise which sells Vietnamese noodles. I had the beef bowl noodle, which was awesome. Apparently, Bill Clinton came to patronize this outlet as we saw his photo hung on the walls.
After that we were given 20,000 VND to pay our rickshaw drivers. We were given a 40 minute tour of the old city on a rickshaw. The ride was crazy, where zillions of motorcycles were zooming past us left right and centre. I don't know how I managed to get out of that trip alive but I did enjoy the majestic Ho Chi Minh night scene.
Checked back in the hotel for a early night in, ordered room service before that! What a luxury.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Day 4 September 21
We got up earlier today to make sure that what happened yesterday would not be repeated. We left on time for Hatay province to visit the Asia Pacific Breweries Plant. The trip expected to be 2 hours, only took 45 mins and we were nearly an hour early this time.
Mr Duncan, the plant director brought us around the plant for a tour. He gave a very interesting on-site tutorial on the types of wheat/barley, the stages of brewing, extracting, fermenting, purifying, to bottling. He explained the decision of APB to invest and have their production plant in Vietnam, and even what type of beer suits the Vietnamese climate.
They again, have contributed back to Vietnam. All the spent grain are resold to the farmers to feed their livestock. Revenue generated by the sale of this spent grain are then reinvested into the agriculture sector such as granting subsidies to farmers or helping them buy fertilizers.
Next we visited Vietnam's place of attraction, the Temple of Literature. Funny thing is that Caahng's accent is so strong that most of us thought he was saying Temple of Richer-Richer. As mentioned in the past blog, the Vietnamese do have a lot of respect for their teachers. This section gives good insight of this Vietnamese trait.
The oldest university in Vietnam, set up in 1070 by the King of Vietnam, it was open to all students in 1076. The architecture is amazingly similar to those of the Chinese, which reflects strong Chinese influence in Vietnamese history.
Students of all provinces have to go through several provincial, regional examinations before going to the Temple of Literature to have their Imperial examinations. The top 3 scholars would have their names carved on these huge stone tablets with a turtle below it to symbolize longevity and eternity.
The 3 top scholars are granted posts in the government or can return back to their provinces to set up schools to teach. That is why teachers are so highly regarded in Vietnam. Those names carved on the stone tablets however can be erased by the King if they are caught being corrupted or do not contribute much to society. Therefore there is an onus to contribute back to the society. This is another reason why I realise that the Vietnamese are really patriotic. They always refer to Vietnam as "My Country".
Withing the temple itself, there is a room dedicated to Confucious. Students who pass the imperial exams would then kneel to him. There were 2 cranes flanking the entrance to Confucious' shirne. This was to remind the students the story of remembering your roots, or Ying Shui Shi Yan, which means that do not forget where the source of your water flows from.
Then there are the 4 animals of power. The Dragon, symbolizes power and prestige; the Phoenix, the female equivalant of the dragon, usually representing the queen; the Turtle, symbolizing wisdom and longivity; and lastly the Unicorn, representing happiness.
We then headed back to town to visit Hanoi Public University. I understand that this was a last minute arrangement so there wasn't much to write on, ALTHOUGH I must say that the visit to the school totally wiped out my perception that Vietnamese girls are submissive and docile. We were walking up the school, all 7 floors up to the main hall. And all the girls on every floor started to scream as we walked up. Some of them were so aggressive that they pushed their chairs and tables and even grabbed some of us to take pictures with them!
We went back to the center of Hanoi to visit the Ciputra International City. The project is similar to that of my fathers'. It is a gated community with incredible facilities. The houses are only available for Vietnamese ownership although the Vietnamese can rent it out. A lot of expatriates live in the town. In order to facilitate social cohesion, the management of Ciputra do organize events to promote different festivals and educate the children on different festive days.
After that we headed straight to Noi Bai International airport, where we begin our Ho Chi Minh adventure. We landed at Tan Son Nhat around 21:00 local time and we could feel the difference immediately. Ho Chi Minh so vibrant compared to Hanoi. The roads were wider, and shops were still opened at that time. Shops were brightly lit, and commercials were all over the buildings.
We checked into our hotel, right smack in the middle of town! The night market is just 2 minutes walk away from the hotel, how exciting. Got to our rooms, felt like a 5 star hotel. Internet facilities, cable tv, huge toilets. Civilization, Finally!!
Mr Duncan, the plant director brought us around the plant for a tour. He gave a very interesting on-site tutorial on the types of wheat/barley, the stages of brewing, extracting, fermenting, purifying, to bottling. He explained the decision of APB to invest and have their production plant in Vietnam, and even what type of beer suits the Vietnamese climate.
They again, have contributed back to Vietnam. All the spent grain are resold to the farmers to feed their livestock. Revenue generated by the sale of this spent grain are then reinvested into the agriculture sector such as granting subsidies to farmers or helping them buy fertilizers.
Next we visited Vietnam's place of attraction, the Temple of Literature. Funny thing is that Caahng's accent is so strong that most of us thought he was saying Temple of Richer-Richer. As mentioned in the past blog, the Vietnamese do have a lot of respect for their teachers. This section gives good insight of this Vietnamese trait.
The oldest university in Vietnam, set up in 1070 by the King of Vietnam, it was open to all students in 1076. The architecture is amazingly similar to those of the Chinese, which reflects strong Chinese influence in Vietnamese history.
Students of all provinces have to go through several provincial, regional examinations before going to the Temple of Literature to have their Imperial examinations. The top 3 scholars would have their names carved on these huge stone tablets with a turtle below it to symbolize longevity and eternity.
The 3 top scholars are granted posts in the government or can return back to their provinces to set up schools to teach. That is why teachers are so highly regarded in Vietnam. Those names carved on the stone tablets however can be erased by the King if they are caught being corrupted or do not contribute much to society. Therefore there is an onus to contribute back to the society. This is another reason why I realise that the Vietnamese are really patriotic. They always refer to Vietnam as "My Country".
Withing the temple itself, there is a room dedicated to Confucious. Students who pass the imperial exams would then kneel to him. There were 2 cranes flanking the entrance to Confucious' shirne. This was to remind the students the story of remembering your roots, or Ying Shui Shi Yan, which means that do not forget where the source of your water flows from.
Then there are the 4 animals of power. The Dragon, symbolizes power and prestige; the Phoenix, the female equivalant of the dragon, usually representing the queen; the Turtle, symbolizing wisdom and longivity; and lastly the Unicorn, representing happiness.
We then headed back to town to visit Hanoi Public University. I understand that this was a last minute arrangement so there wasn't much to write on, ALTHOUGH I must say that the visit to the school totally wiped out my perception that Vietnamese girls are submissive and docile. We were walking up the school, all 7 floors up to the main hall. And all the girls on every floor started to scream as we walked up. Some of them were so aggressive that they pushed their chairs and tables and even grabbed some of us to take pictures with them!
We went back to the center of Hanoi to visit the Ciputra International City. The project is similar to that of my fathers'. It is a gated community with incredible facilities. The houses are only available for Vietnamese ownership although the Vietnamese can rent it out. A lot of expatriates live in the town. In order to facilitate social cohesion, the management of Ciputra do organize events to promote different festivals and educate the children on different festive days.
After that we headed straight to Noi Bai International airport, where we begin our Ho Chi Minh adventure. We landed at Tan Son Nhat around 21:00 local time and we could feel the difference immediately. Ho Chi Minh so vibrant compared to Hanoi. The roads were wider, and shops were still opened at that time. Shops were brightly lit, and commercials were all over the buildings.
We checked into our hotel, right smack in the middle of town! The night market is just 2 minutes walk away from the hotel, how exciting. Got to our rooms, felt like a 5 star hotel. Internet facilities, cable tv, huge toilets. Civilization, Finally!!
Day 3 September 20
This morning was pure chaos. Most of the guys got up late and of all the days we chose to be late, we had to be late for our meeting with the government officials. We were due to leave the hotel early at 7:15 am local time to avoid the jam but we only left around 7:45.
The bus ride to Vihn Phuc province was 2 hours long. We passed by many agricultural plantations and the roads got bumpy-ier and narrower as we travelled further from the Capital. We arrived at a grand governmental building. To be honest, it looked a little war torn and bare. Perhaps they have not finished renovating it yet. We were ushered into the conference room where it was really grand. Power suits, microphones and Caahng as our professional translator, I must admit I was a little nervous when giving my first official introduction of our Ngee Ann Delegation. Speaking to the Vice Chairman of the province was a huge honour.
I understand that the province is looking to tourism and manufacturing to improve the province's economy. A Genting theme resort style hotel cum gaming centre is being mooted to the east of Vihn Phuc province where it overlooks scenic mountains and lakes. According to the Vice-Chairman, the province is undergoing tremendous improvements to the economy, growing at 17-20% per year and is the fastest growing province in Vietnam. In fact the reason for the bumpy roads leading to Vhin Phuc is that land is being reclaimed to build newer and better roads. Construction is a big opportunity in this province.
He spoke of the needs to further improve the infrastructure as quality has still much to be desired. Vihn Phuc has undergone tremendous change over the past 10 years. From 90% agriculture based economy to 85% manufacturing now. Average annual income has increased nearly seven-fold, from $US 160 to $US 730. This breakneck pace of development is expected to continue until 2020. I think this truly highlights the persistence of the Vietnamese to improve their standard of living. They are prepared to leave their homes on the farm to work in towns and manufacturing plants to earn a better income.
Problems faced by the governors of Vihn Phuc include clearing agricultural land to build infrastructure. Farmers are still struggling to adapt to a new way of life in urban areas. Services such as financial banks and human resource is also lacking. Besides improving the economy, environmental protection remains an area for concern too.
Clearly planning for the future, the Vice Chairman has bigger plans for Vihn Phuc, which he hopes that in 10 years time, his province will be the IT Hub of Vietnam. I think that this highlights the ambition and foresight of the Vietnamese.
From the Vice Chairman's comments, I can sense that the Vietnamese government is actively encouraging foreigners to invest in Vietnam, since he was strongly encouraging us to come back to Vietnam after our studies to invest in his country.
He ended of by giving a very good quote, about the problems of balancing the backbone of Vietnam which is agriculture, and yet promoting business.
The bus ride to Vihn Phuc province was 2 hours long. We passed by many agricultural plantations and the roads got bumpy-ier and narrower as we travelled further from the Capital. We arrived at a grand governmental building. To be honest, it looked a little war torn and bare. Perhaps they have not finished renovating it yet. We were ushered into the conference room where it was really grand. Power suits, microphones and Caahng as our professional translator, I must admit I was a little nervous when giving my first official introduction of our Ngee Ann Delegation. Speaking to the Vice Chairman of the province was a huge honour.
I understand that the province is looking to tourism and manufacturing to improve the province's economy. A Genting theme resort style hotel cum gaming centre is being mooted to the east of Vihn Phuc province where it overlooks scenic mountains and lakes. According to the Vice-Chairman, the province is undergoing tremendous improvements to the economy, growing at 17-20% per year and is the fastest growing province in Vietnam. In fact the reason for the bumpy roads leading to Vhin Phuc is that land is being reclaimed to build newer and better roads. Construction is a big opportunity in this province.
He spoke of the needs to further improve the infrastructure as quality has still much to be desired. Vihn Phuc has undergone tremendous change over the past 10 years. From 90% agriculture based economy to 85% manufacturing now. Average annual income has increased nearly seven-fold, from $US 160 to $US 730. This breakneck pace of development is expected to continue until 2020. I think this truly highlights the persistence of the Vietnamese to improve their standard of living. They are prepared to leave their homes on the farm to work in towns and manufacturing plants to earn a better income.
Problems faced by the governors of Vihn Phuc include clearing agricultural land to build infrastructure. Farmers are still struggling to adapt to a new way of life in urban areas. Services such as financial banks and human resource is also lacking. Besides improving the economy, environmental protection remains an area for concern too.
Clearly planning for the future, the Vice Chairman has bigger plans for Vihn Phuc, which he hopes that in 10 years time, his province will be the IT Hub of Vietnam. I think that this highlights the ambition and foresight of the Vietnamese.
From the Vice Chairman's comments, I can sense that the Vietnamese government is actively encouraging foreigners to invest in Vietnam, since he was strongly encouraging us to come back to Vietnam after our studies to invest in his country.
He ended of by giving a very good quote, about the problems of balancing the backbone of Vietnam which is agriculture, and yet promoting business.
"With no business, there can be no money, and with no money there can be no happiness. Yet without rice, the people will be hungry and will not be prosperous either."
After that we went straight to Honda manufacturing plant, which took another good 45 mins. We got delayed a further 10 minutes because of a road block. Apparently, our bus was going against the traffic on the same dirt path. I was truly amazed that our tour bus managed to get us into the compound as the dirt path is only big enough for 2 motorbikes to travel on by Singapore road safety standards.
We were briefed in class that Vietnamese can transport anything on their tiny mopeds. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see this man squeeze in a dozen dogs into a metal basket and load it at the back of the motorcycle. I feel really sorry for the dogs.
We arrived at the Honda factory and were given a short presentation by the CFO. He is a very detailed person. He prepared charts of his company's growth, and even sized up his competition by charting themselves against their competitors.
One problem that he highlighted was that the government sometimes can be quite interfering with their regulations. Such changes in their polices have included caps on production and imposing a Special Consumption Tax, SCT, (similar to our COE) on cars, which makes it less viable for consumers to purchase motor vehicles. However, it still is viable to produce vehicles in Vietnam since the government imposes an 85% tax on importing vehicles and Honda can save on these import duties.
Honda have played their part well in CSR. They have participated in charity shows, traffic awareness programs and even come up with a "cooler" design for motorcycle helmets to encourage Vietnames to wear their helmets after conducting a survey which found out that the number one reason why Vietnamese people do not wear helmets is because it is unfashionable.
We then toured the factory, seeing how many bikes were being produced. Around 900 motorbikes are produced daily, which is quite remarkable.
Everything snowballed and by the time we finished lunch, it was nearly 3 O'clock. We drove back to Yahama which took another 45 mins. Our meeting with the Yahama director was at 1:30, and being 2 hours late, the production manager clearly wasn't too impressed. We had a quick 15 min tour of the production facilities.
I was so exhausted that I was quite relieved to reach the end of the day.
After that we went straight to Honda manufacturing plant, which took another good 45 mins. We got delayed a further 10 minutes because of a road block. Apparently, our bus was going against the traffic on the same dirt path. I was truly amazed that our tour bus managed to get us into the compound as the dirt path is only big enough for 2 motorbikes to travel on by Singapore road safety standards.
We were briefed in class that Vietnamese can transport anything on their tiny mopeds. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see this man squeeze in a dozen dogs into a metal basket and load it at the back of the motorcycle. I feel really sorry for the dogs.
We arrived at the Honda factory and were given a short presentation by the CFO. He is a very detailed person. He prepared charts of his company's growth, and even sized up his competition by charting themselves against their competitors.
One problem that he highlighted was that the government sometimes can be quite interfering with their regulations. Such changes in their polices have included caps on production and imposing a Special Consumption Tax, SCT, (similar to our COE) on cars, which makes it less viable for consumers to purchase motor vehicles. However, it still is viable to produce vehicles in Vietnam since the government imposes an 85% tax on importing vehicles and Honda can save on these import duties.
Honda have played their part well in CSR. They have participated in charity shows, traffic awareness programs and even come up with a "cooler" design for motorcycle helmets to encourage Vietnames to wear their helmets after conducting a survey which found out that the number one reason why Vietnamese people do not wear helmets is because it is unfashionable.
We then toured the factory, seeing how many bikes were being produced. Around 900 motorbikes are produced daily, which is quite remarkable.
Everything snowballed and by the time we finished lunch, it was nearly 3 O'clock. We drove back to Yahama which took another 45 mins. Our meeting with the Yahama director was at 1:30, and being 2 hours late, the production manager clearly wasn't too impressed. We had a quick 15 min tour of the production facilities.
I was so exhausted that I was quite relieved to reach the end of the day.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Day 2 September 19
We started the day off early due to some confusion in the timing. As you probably know, Vietnam is an hour behind Singapore time. We were scheduled to wake up at 6:45, so Joanne called us at 6:45 Singapore time, which is 5:45 Vietnam time.
Headed up to the 5th floor for breakfast. Ate my fill before heading out to Hanoi Industrial Park to visit our first company TOTO Manufacturing. On the way, Happy Buddha was briefing us on the traffic regulations in Vietnam. Unsurprisingly, most drivers do not have a licence. In fact, Vietnam have a very high traffic related deaths, which is around 28 deaths per day. In order to improve the traffic conditions to attract foreign investors and businessmen, the Vietnamese government have implemented new laws to make riders wear a protective helmet. Police would punch a hole in the drivers licence if it is their first or second offence. Repetitive offenders would have their licences revoked and sent for refresher courses.
According to Caahng, the average Vietnamese earns US$700-US$750 a year. Teachers and policemen earn more which is around $US 105 to $US 130 a month. The thing about Vietnamese is that they really respect their teachers a lot and if you are a teacher, you usually get gifts from parents and students. I'll find out why they revere their teachers so much later on when we visit the temple of literature on Day 4.
To Vietnamese, a successful man is one who owns Buffaloes, land and a house, and are married. Vietnam has one of the worlds fastest population growth rates is that it is traditional for people to get married by their early 20s. In fact those in the countryside get married as early as 12 to 14 years old. Caahng was recounting an incident in the central Vietnam where he spoke to this young girl around 16 years old, and was shocked to find out that all the kids on the motor bike with her are her children.
I was amazed by the architecture of the residential houses in Vietnam. They were often narrow and very tall. Happy Buddha told us that this reflected how the Vietnamese wanted their women to look like : Tall, Fair and Lean. The front of the house is painted, but the sides weren't, which were quite weird. And it can be quite perculiar to find a tall house sticking out alone in the middle of a padi field.
There are no equal rights for the men and women, although conditions are improving for the Vietnamese women. In the past, women were encouraged to stay home and work. Nowadays, more and more women are joining the labour force, which is a sign of industrializing, moving away from farms to work in industries.
One interesting fact is that Vietnamese men whom have college education do not have to serve the army. Wish Singapore could have a similar policy.
We drove over the Than Long Bridge, which is the 6 Km in length. Built in 1975 when Vietnam was liberated. We reached the Hanoi Industrial Park and learnt a great deal about TOTO Manufacturing and its technology, CeFionTec. Vietnamese are always striving to improve ways of doing things, and they strongly encourage employee feedback. TOTO even made a machine to flip over the toilet seats, which cut down labour from 2 people to 1 person.
Any business which invests in Vietnam would definitely use the parent company's method of doing things, although they must be flexible enough to change to suit some of the working culture of the Vietnamese.
The production manager said that Vietnamese people are still mainly agrarians, and do not realise the potential losses incurred if they are 10 to 20 mins late. It may mean that an entire shipment could be delayed if production is a few mins late.
After lunch we went to a romantic spot in Hanoi, a winding road between the two rivers which flows in opposite directions to and from Vietnam. We were also supposed to visit a 15th century pagoda which was built by the Chinese when they first occupied Vietnam, however it was closed. We then drove past a majestic Presidential way which was truely breath taking. The buildings were grand and governmental offices have different architectural designs, from chinese, to colonial french. The moseleum where President Ho Chih Mihn's body rests was equally majestic.
We got to Kinderworld International, where it took us nearly 5 mins just to cross a 2m road to get to the compound. Traffic was crazy and motorbikes did not allow us to cross. Kinderworld is a Singapore based company, which have been in Vietnam for 8 years. According to Mr. Ricky Tan, education is a very hot sector to be in Vietnam now. This is true as according to Caahng, Vietnamese are very prudent and practical people. If they had the money, they would rather spend it on educating themselves or their children than spend it on luxury items such as cars and jewellery.
One thing Mr. Ricky Tan said that we Singaporeans can learn from the Vietnamese is that we must step out of our comfort zone and sieze what we want.
The final program of the day was the networking dinner at our hotel with the Singapore Business Group. There were some prominent businessmen at the networking dinner from very established Singaporean companies such as Singtel, Citi Group and the ambassador to Vietnam who's in charge of commerce.
They spoke of understanding the culture, and needs of the country. How to adapt your business to capture a foreign market. They also said that Singaporeans, being so sheltered take a lot of things for granted. When the light does not work, we simply call the electrician to come and if he is late, we complain. In Vietnam however, it is very common for power to fail at least twice a week.
While infrastructure and power are still major issues, Vietnam has taken considerable steps to open its market. This can be seen by the willingness of the Vietnamese government to comply with TWO and APEC guidelines which makes business efficacy more transparent.
They told us about the difference between the two cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Hanoi as we know had little capitalist influence, whereas Ho CHi Minh had a lot of American influence, therefore Hanoi is more political centre, whereas Ho Chi Minh is the economic centre of Vietnam. It is no wonder that all these government linked companies such as Singtel and Sembcorp have representatives based in Hanoi to facilitate communication with the government.
The Vietnamese government has taken steps to redistribute the industries through out Vietnam. More and more grants are given to companies who are willing to invest North of Ho Chi Minh City. In fact the bigger projects nowadays are going to be based near Hanoi. Besides that, the advantage of shifting north is that there is less competition and have bigger opportunities.
So what are the Vietnamese perception of us Singaporeans? Generally, Singaporeans are known to be trustworthy and honourable businessmen. We conduct our business by the word and we are very cautious. While we usually take long to delibearate on the decisions, once a decision has been reached, Singaporeans are known to honour their agreement.
We were told that we as Singaporeans should uphold this good image of our nation and continue doing business with the view of helping Vietnam develop rather than just going in to make a quick buck and pulling out. Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Relations are one way of establishing a company brand in Vietnam.
Headed up to the 5th floor for breakfast. Ate my fill before heading out to Hanoi Industrial Park to visit our first company TOTO Manufacturing. On the way, Happy Buddha was briefing us on the traffic regulations in Vietnam. Unsurprisingly, most drivers do not have a licence. In fact, Vietnam have a very high traffic related deaths, which is around 28 deaths per day. In order to improve the traffic conditions to attract foreign investors and businessmen, the Vietnamese government have implemented new laws to make riders wear a protective helmet. Police would punch a hole in the drivers licence if it is their first or second offence. Repetitive offenders would have their licences revoked and sent for refresher courses.
According to Caahng, the average Vietnamese earns US$700-US$750 a year. Teachers and policemen earn more which is around $US 105 to $US 130 a month. The thing about Vietnamese is that they really respect their teachers a lot and if you are a teacher, you usually get gifts from parents and students. I'll find out why they revere their teachers so much later on when we visit the temple of literature on Day 4.
To Vietnamese, a successful man is one who owns Buffaloes, land and a house, and are married. Vietnam has one of the worlds fastest population growth rates is that it is traditional for people to get married by their early 20s. In fact those in the countryside get married as early as 12 to 14 years old. Caahng was recounting an incident in the central Vietnam where he spoke to this young girl around 16 years old, and was shocked to find out that all the kids on the motor bike with her are her children.
I was amazed by the architecture of the residential houses in Vietnam. They were often narrow and very tall. Happy Buddha told us that this reflected how the Vietnamese wanted their women to look like : Tall, Fair and Lean. The front of the house is painted, but the sides weren't, which were quite weird. And it can be quite perculiar to find a tall house sticking out alone in the middle of a padi field.
There are no equal rights for the men and women, although conditions are improving for the Vietnamese women. In the past, women were encouraged to stay home and work. Nowadays, more and more women are joining the labour force, which is a sign of industrializing, moving away from farms to work in industries.
One interesting fact is that Vietnamese men whom have college education do not have to serve the army. Wish Singapore could have a similar policy.
We drove over the Than Long Bridge, which is the 6 Km in length. Built in 1975 when Vietnam was liberated. We reached the Hanoi Industrial Park and learnt a great deal about TOTO Manufacturing and its technology, CeFionTec. Vietnamese are always striving to improve ways of doing things, and they strongly encourage employee feedback. TOTO even made a machine to flip over the toilet seats, which cut down labour from 2 people to 1 person.
Any business which invests in Vietnam would definitely use the parent company's method of doing things, although they must be flexible enough to change to suit some of the working culture of the Vietnamese.
The production manager said that Vietnamese people are still mainly agrarians, and do not realise the potential losses incurred if they are 10 to 20 mins late. It may mean that an entire shipment could be delayed if production is a few mins late.
After lunch we went to a romantic spot in Hanoi, a winding road between the two rivers which flows in opposite directions to and from Vietnam. We were also supposed to visit a 15th century pagoda which was built by the Chinese when they first occupied Vietnam, however it was closed. We then drove past a majestic Presidential way which was truely breath taking. The buildings were grand and governmental offices have different architectural designs, from chinese, to colonial french. The moseleum where President Ho Chih Mihn's body rests was equally majestic.
We got to Kinderworld International, where it took us nearly 5 mins just to cross a 2m road to get to the compound. Traffic was crazy and motorbikes did not allow us to cross. Kinderworld is a Singapore based company, which have been in Vietnam for 8 years. According to Mr. Ricky Tan, education is a very hot sector to be in Vietnam now. This is true as according to Caahng, Vietnamese are very prudent and practical people. If they had the money, they would rather spend it on educating themselves or their children than spend it on luxury items such as cars and jewellery.
One thing Mr. Ricky Tan said that we Singaporeans can learn from the Vietnamese is that we must step out of our comfort zone and sieze what we want.
The final program of the day was the networking dinner at our hotel with the Singapore Business Group. There were some prominent businessmen at the networking dinner from very established Singaporean companies such as Singtel, Citi Group and the ambassador to Vietnam who's in charge of commerce.
They spoke of understanding the culture, and needs of the country. How to adapt your business to capture a foreign market. They also said that Singaporeans, being so sheltered take a lot of things for granted. When the light does not work, we simply call the electrician to come and if he is late, we complain. In Vietnam however, it is very common for power to fail at least twice a week.
While infrastructure and power are still major issues, Vietnam has taken considerable steps to open its market. This can be seen by the willingness of the Vietnamese government to comply with TWO and APEC guidelines which makes business efficacy more transparent.
They told us about the difference between the two cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Hanoi as we know had little capitalist influence, whereas Ho CHi Minh had a lot of American influence, therefore Hanoi is more political centre, whereas Ho Chi Minh is the economic centre of Vietnam. It is no wonder that all these government linked companies such as Singtel and Sembcorp have representatives based in Hanoi to facilitate communication with the government.
The Vietnamese government has taken steps to redistribute the industries through out Vietnam. More and more grants are given to companies who are willing to invest North of Ho Chi Minh City. In fact the bigger projects nowadays are going to be based near Hanoi. Besides that, the advantage of shifting north is that there is less competition and have bigger opportunities.
So what are the Vietnamese perception of us Singaporeans? Generally, Singaporeans are known to be trustworthy and honourable businessmen. We conduct our business by the word and we are very cautious. While we usually take long to delibearate on the decisions, once a decision has been reached, Singaporeans are known to honour their agreement.
We were told that we as Singaporeans should uphold this good image of our nation and continue doing business with the view of helping Vietnam develop rather than just going in to make a quick buck and pulling out. Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Relations are one way of establishing a company brand in Vietnam.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Day 1 September 18
Today the great adventure begins. We have been preparing for this trip intensively, attending 5 full days of workshops, briefing us on the cultures, and a lesson on some basic Vietnamese words which we would be commonly using.
I met up with 7 other classmates of mine at the airport for lunch. We decided to sign up for this International Business Studies Mission to Vietnam together. They are Roche, Joanne, Joyce, Denny, Shane, Deone and Hui Ling.
After lunch, we congregated together with the rest of the delegation at the check in counters. We said goodbye to our loved ones before boarding the plane at 3:30. The whole journey took 3 hours before we touched down at Noi Bai, Hanoi's International Airport.
To be honest, I was expecting to land in the middle of some corn field, but Noi Bai International Airport, albeit small, do boast of good facilities and was cleaner than I expected. Clearing the customs was quite nerve wrecking actually. It felt like I was reporting for military service. The customs officials were wearing this typical green uniform with the police hats. Perhaps I've been watching too much of spy movies like James Bond where these communist police officials are usually the bad guys. Luckily they were really polite and efficient, clearing us through the customs as quickly as they can.
We met our tour guide Caahng, pronounced as Ken. We boarded the tour bus for a 45 min trip to Hanoi city, where we had our first taste of authentic Vietnamese cuisines. The most common dishes were the spring rolls, Vietnamese "Poh Piah", a dish of pork/beef/chicken/fish and soup, followed up by a platter of fresh fruits. The food, contrasting to Singapore, is simple and plain.
We then travelled another 45 mins to our hotel. The roads were crazier than expected. Motorcycles and bicycles were zooming past left right and center. The thing about Vietnam is that their motor vehicles sound their horn indiscriminately, which makes crossing traffic quite stressful.
Anyway Caahng told us to call him by his nickname, Little Buddha. His nickname came about because he is still unmarried despite being 30 odd years old. This is really old for a guy to remain unmarried since Vietnamese guys get married around 20-26 years old. There are some ages which are considered inauspicious for a guy and girl to get married. Oh yeah, I guess Caahng's parents bequeath him his nickname since he looks bubbly and chubby, like the laughing Buddha.
Travelling through the roads of Vietnam, reminds me of back home in Little India, Kampong Glam and China town where the roads are incredibly narrow, cramped with large numbers of vehicles and littered with rubbish. Our lecturers said that the current Vietnam reminds them of Singapore in the 70s. In fact, from old pictures of Singapore, it does look incredibly like the 70s, where shophouses line up along the streets.
We reached our hotel around 10 where we began to settle down. I was really surprised that our bus could squeeze through a narrow alley in order to get to our hotel. We held up traffic for a full 5 mins though. The rooms were old, and have little defects here and there, although most basic facilities were provided.
Hanoi isnt the most vibrant of cities. Most of their shops close at nightfall and the people do not speak english, so it is difficult to communicate with the locals. There were no ammenities around the hotel as well which made it feel so far from home.
My roomate was Roche, whom is my best mate in school. We turned in early since Day 2 is our longest day.
I met up with 7 other classmates of mine at the airport for lunch. We decided to sign up for this International Business Studies Mission to Vietnam together. They are Roche, Joanne, Joyce, Denny, Shane, Deone and Hui Ling.
After lunch, we congregated together with the rest of the delegation at the check in counters. We said goodbye to our loved ones before boarding the plane at 3:30. The whole journey took 3 hours before we touched down at Noi Bai, Hanoi's International Airport.
To be honest, I was expecting to land in the middle of some corn field, but Noi Bai International Airport, albeit small, do boast of good facilities and was cleaner than I expected. Clearing the customs was quite nerve wrecking actually. It felt like I was reporting for military service. The customs officials were wearing this typical green uniform with the police hats. Perhaps I've been watching too much of spy movies like James Bond where these communist police officials are usually the bad guys. Luckily they were really polite and efficient, clearing us through the customs as quickly as they can.
We met our tour guide Caahng, pronounced as Ken. We boarded the tour bus for a 45 min trip to Hanoi city, where we had our first taste of authentic Vietnamese cuisines. The most common dishes were the spring rolls, Vietnamese "Poh Piah", a dish of pork/beef/chicken/fish and soup, followed up by a platter of fresh fruits. The food, contrasting to Singapore, is simple and plain.
We then travelled another 45 mins to our hotel. The roads were crazier than expected. Motorcycles and bicycles were zooming past left right and center. The thing about Vietnam is that their motor vehicles sound their horn indiscriminately, which makes crossing traffic quite stressful.
Anyway Caahng told us to call him by his nickname, Little Buddha. His nickname came about because he is still unmarried despite being 30 odd years old. This is really old for a guy to remain unmarried since Vietnamese guys get married around 20-26 years old. There are some ages which are considered inauspicious for a guy and girl to get married. Oh yeah, I guess Caahng's parents bequeath him his nickname since he looks bubbly and chubby, like the laughing Buddha.
Travelling through the roads of Vietnam, reminds me of back home in Little India, Kampong Glam and China town where the roads are incredibly narrow, cramped with large numbers of vehicles and littered with rubbish. Our lecturers said that the current Vietnam reminds them of Singapore in the 70s. In fact, from old pictures of Singapore, it does look incredibly like the 70s, where shophouses line up along the streets.
We reached our hotel around 10 where we began to settle down. I was really surprised that our bus could squeeze through a narrow alley in order to get to our hotel. We held up traffic for a full 5 mins though. The rooms were old, and have little defects here and there, although most basic facilities were provided.
Hanoi isnt the most vibrant of cities. Most of their shops close at nightfall and the people do not speak english, so it is difficult to communicate with the locals. There were no ammenities around the hotel as well which made it feel so far from home.
My roomate was Roche, whom is my best mate in school. We turned in early since Day 2 is our longest day.
Vietnam and her People
Hello, my name is Benjamin Lee of Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I am a 3rd year business studies diploma student and I was one of the lucky few students which were sent to Vietnam on an International Business Study Mission (IBSM) for 10 days.
We were based in 2 cities, Hanoi for our first 4 days, before flying south to Ho Chi Minh City, formally known as Saigon, for the rest of our trip. We did visit neighbouring provinces such as Vinh Phuc and Bihn Doung.
The delegation comprised of 35 students from the School of Business and Accountancy, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and our 3 lecturers, Mr. Wong Fook Sun, Mr. Matthew Pon and Ms Teo Hui Ling. The student delegation comprised of students mainly from the Diploma of Business Studies and a handful from the Diploma of Banking and Finance Services.
Over the course of the 10 days, we were immersed in Vietnamese cultures, customs and cuisines. This blog would share my experiences in Vietnam with you readers. Do check out the picture gallery of us and my other course-mates’ blogs.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZtmjJy2bt2Ll4¬ag=1
Cheers!
Benjamin Lee
We were based in 2 cities, Hanoi for our first 4 days, before flying south to Ho Chi Minh City, formally known as Saigon, for the rest of our trip. We did visit neighbouring provinces such as Vinh Phuc and Bihn Doung.
The delegation comprised of 35 students from the School of Business and Accountancy, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and our 3 lecturers, Mr. Wong Fook Sun, Mr. Matthew Pon and Ms Teo Hui Ling. The student delegation comprised of students mainly from the Diploma of Business Studies and a handful from the Diploma of Banking and Finance Services.
Over the course of the 10 days, we were immersed in Vietnamese cultures, customs and cuisines. This blog would share my experiences in Vietnam with you readers. Do check out the picture gallery of us and my other course-mates’ blogs.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZtmjJy2bt2Ll4¬ag=1
Cheers!
Benjamin Lee
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