BONJOUR VIETNAM, Here I come!

YOUR BRAINPOWER: USE IT & MORE OF IT, OR LOSE IT!

2012-02-28T13:42:00.005+08:00

Recently, I have a brisk email exchange with an old friend of mine in Singapore, who  told me that he had now reached 55 and would be retiring at the end of this month.

In my email response to him, I had shared with him the following advisory:

"... according to most cognitive scientists, the 7 tenets of successful navigation through the silver hair cycle,  are:

1) to remain physically active, including exercising;

2) to indulge in intellectually hyperactive and stimulating activities;

3) to stay socially active, with widening circle of friends, new and old;

4) to have a well balanced diet;

5) to maintain satisfying relationships with loved ones;

6) to have a good rest and sleep well;

7) to have meaningful spiritual pursuits.

The first 3 are crucial in order to entertain the remaining 4... "

Somehow, our exchange went into brain cells, when he wrote back, as follows:

"... Recently I heard a scientist sharing that as we aged, there will be dead brain cell and recently research found that it can be replcement with another type of cell which I forget its name. To produce this cell, we just need to do three things:

1. Exercise;

2. Fast 24 hours;

3. During fasting, do or think of only good things and happy one;

At the end of 24 hours, the brain will produce this cell and replace the dead one... "

As brain fitness and cognitive enhancement has always been my pet subject,  I responded as follows:

"Interesting theory. As far as I know, you are probably referring to "neuroglia" or glia cells.

You would certainly remember what I had shared with you many years ago: true brain power is essentially a function of the inter-connectivity of all our brain cells, and also the richness of those synaptic connections.

The more actively we use our brains, especially from the standpoint of everyday problem solving and strategy formulation, and also keeping our environment stimulating and novel, the better will be our brains.

All the brain cells (or neurons) are thus charged up, i.e. all the synapses are powered up to link them in multitudinal directions. The neuroglia are believed to be those regenerative cells that come about in the bridging and sustainability of the synapses, which scientists call the "myelination process".

Yes, neurons die, in fact at the rate of roughly 100,000 a day, after our 21st birthday, according to one brain scientist. However, it has been established that neuroglia regenerates.

Interestingly, scientists believe that neuroglia have a regenerating volumetric capacity of 10:1, when compared to neurons.

Albert Einstein's brain was believed to have more neuroglia deposits than most other people's brains, based on the brilliant investigative work of Dr Marian Diamond of UCLA Berkeley. She is one of those scientists, who strongly believes that a sustainable stimulating environment will always keep our brains in ship shape.

So, is Dr Ellen Langer of Harvard University. You will certainly remember her work, as embodied in her classic book, 'Mindfulness', and its "sequel", 'The Power of Mindful Learning'.

Our brains will naturally wear out, due to ageing and disease, but our brainpower stays more or less in good shape, as long as we continue to use more of them in our daily lives.

For this reason, I believe, our senior stateman Lee Kuan Yew fears so much about retirement from an active life after he had stepped down during the nineties. With his beloved wife gone, and detachment from the political arena, and from the international advisory circuit, I am worried about his cognitive health.

Likewise, to navigate successful ageing, as mentioned in my earlier email, the first three tenets, i.e. keeping ourselves physically active, staying intellectually hyperactive, and maintaining a socially interactive lifestyle, are critical factors.

Research studies on all the long-living folks around the world, e.g. in Okinawa, Pakistan, northern Italy, have already attested to these factors, other than diet... "

In the end analysis, use your brain everyday, particularly in a challenging manner as well as in novel ways. Otherwise, you might lose your mind.

I like to leave here an inspiring quote from one of my favourite creativity experts, Doug Hall, also author of 'Jump Start Your Brain', among other titles:

[He was also a one-time marketing whizkid with Procter & Gamble, and now runs The Eureka! Ranch as a creativity consultancy, serving as its founder and CEO.]

"The secret of geniuses' accomplishments does not lie in what they have, but in how they use their brains."

A REGULAR MORNING CUPPA WITH MY GYM BUDDIES IS INVARIABLY HAPPINESS & TIME WELL SPENT

2012-02-28T13:05:00.004+08:00

Having a morning cuppa with our gym buddies at Cafe Paris on Go Dau Street after the gym practice - even though my wife and I nowadays go to a different gym on Tan Thanh Street - has become a daily ritual.

Other than sustaining the active socialisation process, my wife and I often find that the gathering is ostensibly a good opportunity to share and exchange ideas, about living and thriving in Vietnam as a whole.

Oftentimes, we also rely on our gym buddies as "sounding boards" to test out the feasibility and workability of certain strategies and tactics we may want to undertake.

As most of our gym buddies have more or less disparate business, professional as well as personal interests, and also the fact that each of them has hailed from different provinces of the country, their perspectives have been, in most instances, valuable and insightful.

For example, among the regulars, Chuc came from North Vietnam; Minh and Nhan, from the ancient city of Hue, Central Vietnam; Linh, from Can Tho, a large city on the Mekong Delta; and Tuan came from another province, the name of which I have forgotten.

By the way, according to national statistics, about 40% of the ten million or so folks living in this big city are migrants from the provinces.

Nhan is the only one who is an university graduate, in the field of structural engineering, and he now runs a consulting firm. The rest are graduates from the 'University of Hard Knocks'.

I would consider all of them as "street smart", as they are all solo entrepreneurs in their own right, with a reasonably good track record.

Moreover, the ongoing active socialisation is naturally extended to their spouses and children, as all of us have been involved in several family outings together.

Although our gym buddies always joke a lot, and often like to cajole as well as play pranks on each other, they are dead serious, when it comes to helping each other in deliberating matters of personal and/or family importance, since each and every one of them is also a family man.

From my personal observations, the camaraderie among our gym buddies is very strong indeed.

During the home removal from my temporary premises on Le Sat to the Vinh Loc Urban Residential Area towards the end of last year, Chuc, Linh, Minh and Tuan had readily volunteered their personal time and effort to ease our transition.

On the other hand, both Minh, being a small property developer, and Nhan, being a structural engineer, had unselfishly rendered expert advice on numerous occasions with regard to important matters on the construction and furnishing of our new home in Ho Chi Minh City.

Frankly, besides my loving and dedicated wife, our gym buddies have played - and are still playing - a vital role in helping me to live - and thrive - in this big country, and more importantly, to assimilate myself into Vietnamese society smoothly.

A SNAPSHOT FROM MY FOODOGRAPHY: PAN-FRIED TILAPIA ("ca ro phi")

2012-02-27T21:05:00.002+08:00

This is one of my favourite home-cooked freshwater fish, tilapia, or "ca ro phi" in Vietnamese.

DELICIOUS MEMORIES: MY FOODOGRAPHY INSPIRED BY DR NAKAMATS

2012-02-27T18:46:00.005+08:00

My wife and our gym buddies are often intrigued as to my continuing fascination with taking snapshots of our chowhunting endeavours in this big city.

Many of the snapshots have already found their way into this weblog.

Maybe, with a little bit of hindsight, I have been somewhat unconsciously influenced - or should I say unwittingly inspired - by Japan's inventor extraordinaire Dr Yoshiro Nakamatsu, or better known internationally as Dr Nakamats. He is apparently regarded as Japan's Edison.

As a matter of fact, Dr Nakamats was awarded the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize for his nutrition science research, whereby he had consistently photographed every daily meal he had taken for some thirty-five years.

His rationale for doing so is this: Whenever he conceives of a novel idea resulting in an invention, he will consult his photograph album to analyse his recent diet, in an attempt to determine which foods are most conducive to his creative impulses.

Dr Nakamats seems to claim responsibility for a comically diverse range of inventions, including but not limited to, the floppy disc, the hard-disk drive, the solar cell, the fuel cell, cinemascope, the digital watch, the karaoke machine, the taxicab meter, plus an anti-impotency spray known as the Love Jet.

I am well aware of the fact that there are some ignorant folks out there who think that he is just a pompous wacko, trying to gain free and wide publicity for claiming the aforesaid inventions. The funny thing is that I have yet to come across any of his so-claimed inventions being formally discredited.

In fact, and as far as I know, Big Blue which reportedly hold several licenses with Dr Nakamats has neither claimed nor denied their business relationship.

More information about Dr Nakamats and his inventions can be found at this link.

What follows is a preview video excerpt from the latest documentary made by a Danish film-maker, entitled 'The Invention of Dr Nakamats'.

GORGEOUS EXOTIC FLOWERS AMIDST LUSH GREENERY CONTINUE TO INFUSE DEEP JOY & VIBRANT COLOURS TO MY HOME LANDSCAPE IN THE VINH LOC URBAN RESIDENTIAL AREA OF HO CHI MINH CITY

2012-02-27T13:34:00.003+08:00

INSPIRING QUOTE FOR MONDAY MORNING

2012-02-27T06:17:00.016+08:00

"... Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now, and perhaps without even knowing it, you will live along some distant day into the answers... "

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, (1875 – 1926), a Bohemian–Austrian poet, who is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language;

Say Keng's comments:

In a nut shell, seize the day, and just do it, not tomorrow or today, but NOW!

INTERESTING OBSERVATION: SAIGONESE vs HANOIAN

2012-02-25T22:30:00.003+08:00

From what I have been reading on the local net, I have come to understand that advertisers and marketers in this country often hold this viewpoint:

"Saigonese makes 10 bucks, borrows 1, and spends 11, while Hanoian makes 10 bucks, spends 1, and saves the rest."

My wife, a Saigonese, has verified its validity.

As my wife puts it, a Saigonese guy can spend all his money in a party without hesitation, but then he will always get back to work quickly.

What does it imply?

Market segmentation strategy is needed in this big country, for one.

I understand folks in the North naturally go for only prestigious brands. They are generally more wary about new products in the market, unless they can can get ready feedback from, say by word of mouth, from a "critical mass" of friends, relatives and associates.

Being more open-minded and easy-going - and spendrift - as compared to their counter-parts in the North, Saigonese is generally more ready to consider and receptive to new product launches.

Interestingly, I have read that, when it comes to wine drinking, an Hanoian goes for prestigious labels without paying much attention to price, while a Saigonese often weighs the price before purchase.

Also, a Saigonese likes to drink quickly, as often manifested by my gym buddies, and in greater volume than a Hanoian who prefers sipping. More interestingly, the ambience for drinking wine is also important to a Hanoian.

RANDOM SCENE ON THE STREETS OF HO CHI MINH CITY'S SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS: "The best time in my life is having YOU beside me."

2012-02-24T12:53:00.004+08:00

This snapshot has been captured at my favourite "banh cuon" eatery on Nguyen Hau Street.

Basically, the popular freshly made, on-the-spot, "banh cuon" is Vietnam's equivalent to Singapore's "chee cheong fun". Instead of oyster sauce, folks here are entertained with the local traditional fish sauce.

It is pertinent to point out that, in Singapore, "chee cheong fun" is considered more of a Cantonese-style "dim sum" snack in the morning, whereas in Vietnam, "banh cuon" is always a solid breakfast meal.

Here, "banh cuon" generally comes with the steamed rice crepes, hand-rolled with finely ground pork and minced mushrooms, plus other ingredients. Cut into small chunks, it is then served on a plate with bean sprouts, chopped mints, one or two slices of pork sausages, and one piece of deep-fried prawn cracker, and finally sprinkled with fried shallots.

A BUG'S LIFE: APPLYING THE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES OF ANTS

2012-02-23T19:42:00.013+08:00

The following valuable lessons from Mother Nature have been derived from the teachings of master coach Jim Rohn, many many years ago, when I had been invited to attend one of his live seminars in Singapore, in conjunction with the National Achievers' Congress.

All of us tend to have the natural propensity to look up to business tycoons and industrial magnates for lessons on how to be successful and get rich. We are eager to learn the secrets of their business and financial success.

But we forget that sometimes the best lessons in life come from Mother Nature which happens to be around us longer than we have. Now, that’s a good lesson to remember!

Take ants for instance. Would you believe that those tiny creatures can teach us how to be successful in leading a better and richer life?

Master coach Jim Rohn had identified four key lessons from the group behavior of ants that can help us to do so. He called them, the 'Ant Philosophy'.

Philosophy #1: Ants never quit.

When I was a young boy growing up in a Malaysian kampong, I was often fascinated by ants. While playing with them, I had observed that, when they were on the trail for food, they didn't let any obstacle stand in their way, for example, putting a stick or a stone deliberately across their chosen path.

They would confront the obstacle, and walk around it, over it, through it or under it until they had attained their desired outcome.

Interestingly, they will always keep looking for a way out when blocked.

We should all learn to be like that. There will always be obstacles in our lives. The real challenge is to keep trying, keep pushing, and keep searching for alternative routes to get to our life goals.

British prime minister during WWI, Winston Churchill, probably paraphrased the ant’s mindset best when he offered this priceless advice:

“Never give up. Never, never give up!”

Lesson Learned:

Never quit looking for a way to get where you are planning to go. The code here is “Be Persistent” and/or “Don’t ever give up”.

As a prolific inventor, Thomas Edison went through numerous unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail so many times?"

Edison replied, "I didn’t fail, but found many ways to improve my invention."

The story of British inventor-entrepreneur Sir James Dyson and his dual cyclone-powered bagless vacuum clearner is a good business example. He had in fact spent over 15 years working in the cellar before finally launching the product in 1993, which became the country's best seller within two years.

Wow! What a valuable lesson in sheer persistence and unwavering perseverance!

"Our greatest glory is not, in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

~ Confucius;

"Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit."

~ Napoleon Hill, author of 'Think and Grow Rich', and a pioneer of the personal development genre;

Philosophy #2: Ants think winter all summer long.

Things are easy during the summer time. It’s always warm, but it is not going to last. Ants instinctively understand this, and so they gather their winter food in the middle of summer, when resources are readily available. They quickly gather and diligently store food for the difficult times when winter comes and food is scarce.

Lesson Learned:

The scout's motto, 'Be Prepared', is the code here.

Life won’t be a smooth ride all the time. In fact, it's a roller coaster. When troubles come, don’t be caught by surprise. Plan for contingencies, and be prepared at all times.

The biblical story of Noah's Ark is a good example. My own single most powerful takeaway from the story is pretty straight-forward: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

The Royal Dutch Shell Company's pioneering and successful application of scenario projection in long-range business planning during the Middle East oil crisis of the mid-1970's was a great business example of strategic preparedness.

The oil embargo caught most oil companies by surprise, but Shell had already considered the impact of an increase in oil price as a possible future scenario, and thought of the actions they should take if it happened. By practicing this scenario projection, they managed to avoid the worst shocks.

Shell even emerged after the oil crisis as the strongest player in the field.

Philosophy #3: Ants think summer all winter.

When winter descends on a colony of ants, they go underground waiting eagerly for the sun to shine above, and when it does, they are immediately back out and about. They seem to have an in-built optimism, and know that the lean times won’t last forever.

As a team-building insect, you can almost imagine them encouraging one another as they anticipate the end of winter.

Lesson Learned:

When we find ourselves in the midst of adversity, we need to remind ourselves that this season of our life will pass away.

Just stay positive, and hang in there, because the storms in our lives are not there to stay. In reality, no matter the storm, there is always a rainbow waiting. Be of good cheer, and it will soon pass away.

When Steve Jobs got played out by John Scully, and eventually got kicked out of the Apple company he had co-founded, it was really devastating for him. But something slowly began to dawn on him - he still loved what he did.

The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. He had been rejected, but he was still in love, and so he decided to start over. He started a company called Next, another company named Pixar (and also fell in love with an amazing woman, who eventually became his wife).

Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated movie, 'Toy Story'. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought Next , and Steve Jobs returned to Apple, and the technology he had developed at Next became the strategic heart of Apple's renaissance. The rest was history.

Philosophy #4: Ants do all they possibly can.

How much food does ants gather in summer? All that they possibly can!

Now that’s a great work ethic to embrace. Do all you can!

One ant doesn’t worry about how much food another ant is gathering. It does not sit back and wonder why it should have to work so hard. Nor does it complain about the poor pay! Ants just do their bit, as nature has intended. They gather all the food they can out there.

Success and happiness are usually the result of performing at your best: doing all you possibly can.

If you look around you, you’ll find that successful people are those who just do all they possibly can.

Average people look forward to getting off. Successful people look forward to getting on with it. The doing and activity is the key here.

Lesson Learned:

Do all you can. How much should you do in your life? As much as you possibly can! We’re all governed by our thoughts, our evaluations, what we have decided, and how we feel.

Don’t ever stop, and become stagnant in life. As my good friend, Dilip Mukerjea often puts it, "the status quo has no status!"

Keep learning and growing, and strive to reach for the stars.

I remember vividly the Apollo 13 incident, following an oxygen tank explosion in space, during the early seventies very well, as I had also watched the movie.

Mission Control in Houston and the three-astronaut crew on board the ill-fated space craft did all they possibly could to deal with the numerous technical problems arising, and to salvage a safe return to earth.

Eventually, with considerable ingenuity under extreme pressures, they managed to use the Lunar Module, instead of the Command Module, to complete a successful earth-bound splashdown in the South Pacific.

On a larger picture, I also remember the story about Singapore, when she got kicked out of Malaysia in 1965, and then the British forces pulled out suddenly in the seventies.

The then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his cabinet ministerial stalwarts [Keng Swee, Rajaratnam, Sui Sen, among others] just did all they possibly could, against all dicey odds, to turn the Jurong swamplands into industrial estates, set up the Economic Development Board (EDB) for their road warriors to roam the globe to attact foreign investors to come to Singapore to set up factories, and finally, build the armed forces from scratch [fortunately, with Israel's help] to defend her sovereignty. The rest was history.

For summing up in a nut shell, I recommend folks to follow the four philosophies of Jim Rohn as embodied in the ‘Ant Philosophy’ – and you’ll see the difference in your life.

- Don’t quit.

- Look ahead.

- Stay positive.

- And do all you can.

And there’s just one more lesson to learn from ants.

Did you know that an ant can carry objects up to 20 times their own weight?

Maybe we are like that too. We can carry burdens on our shoulders and manage workloads that are far, far heavier than we’d imagine. Next time something’s bothering you and weighing you down, and you feel you just can’t carry on, don’t fret.

Think of the little bug.

AGRICULTURE STILL PLAYS A CORE ROLE IN VIETNAM'S ECONOMY

2012-02-22T18:07:00.002+08:00

“The agricultural sector has helped the Vietnamese economy thrive,... ”

“... Vietnam is the world’s biggest exporter of cashew nuts and black pepper, the second biggest exporter of rice and coffee, and a major global supplier of farmed fish...”

“... Vietnam has some of the most productive farmers in Asia, but will face major challenges when beginning to develop and restructure its agricultural sector... ”

~ UK’s Financial Times, quoting Prakash Jhanwer, who heads the Vietnam, Indonesia and Laotian offices for Olam International, based in Singapore;

[Source: Vietnam Business and Economy News, 21st Febraury 2012]

VIETNAM'S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR 2012, according to HSBC Bank

2012-02-22T13:50:00.000+08:00

"... the Vietnamese currency will be relatively more stable in 2012...

... Vietnam’s GDP growth rate was 5.9 % in 2011, and is estimated at 5.7 % in 2012...

... The country’s inflation is easing and expected to reach a single digit by the end of this year,...

... weaker import demand and weakening of exchange rate will help stabilise the Vietnam dong in 2012...

... The trade deficit is also expected to stabilise at US$10 billion in 2012, as compared to $9.8 billion in 2011...

... slow growth in 2012 due to cautious spending and weaker exports, but... the country is heading in the right direction this year despite [the] global economic uncertainty... "

~ HSBC Bank's latest report;

[Source: Saigon Giai Phong, 21st February 2012]

LIVING & WORKING IN VIETNAM: THE COUNTRY IS BECOMING A WORKPLACE MAGNET FOR EXPATS

2012-02-22T12:28:00.002+08:00

“Vietnam is a good place to live in. I can get a salary corresponding to my qualification and working hours. It is simple to integrate into the society since people are very friendly.”

~ Andre Bosia, French executive chef at the Sofitel Metropole, Hanoi; he came to the country four years ago, and now wants to settle down here, especially after marrying a Vietnamese fashion designer.
Bosia is just one of many expats who want to live and work in Vietnam, where opportunities are aplenty;

[Source: ThanhNiewNews, 10th February 2012]

Say Keng's comments:

All I can say is that happy minds think alike!

INTERESTING OBSERVATION: WORKING FOR LOCAL COMPANY vs FOREIGN COMPANY IN VIETNAM

2012-02-22T12:13:00.001+08:00

“I prefer to work for a foreign company than a local one. The foreign companies have a more open working environment, and you are able to work without having to watch the others.”

“With expat bosses, I concentrated on my job, focusing on results and performance.”

“At local companies, besides working, you have to spend too much time in maintaining good relations with your bosses and colleagues, while at foreign companies, you can cut straight to the chase.”

~ Phan Lam, who worked for both local and foreign media companies, before becoming a freelancer;

[Source: ThanhNiewNews, 10th February 2012]

LIKE SINGAPORE, HO CHI MINH CITY ALSO HAS ITS FAIR SHARE OF THE PERENNIAL PROBLEMS WITH 'THE OLDEST PROFESSION IN THE WORLD'

2012-02-22T06:21:00.008+08:00

A news report, entitled 'City keeps close check on service businesses' in 'Vietnam News', the national English Language daily, is quite intriguing.

It goes to show that Ho Chi Minh City has more or less the same perennial problems with Singapore, like grappling with 'the oldest profession in the world'.

Interestingly, as far as I understand, prostitution is actually legal in Singapore, "as long as it happens behind closed doors and between two consenting adults", in spite of the conservative and puritan stance of the Singapore Government.

However, the solicitation of sexual services in public [i.e. plying the flesh trade on the streets], living on the earnings of a prostitute, and running a brothel, are considered illegal activities by the men in blue.

In practice, the police authority in Singapore adopts a pragmatic approach to the flesh trade, as they reason that law enforcement agencies around the world through the ages have tried to eradicate brothels without success.

Also, Singapore has been a workplace magnet to some one million or so foreign workers and trained professionals, many of whom are men living on their own, and add to that, some 12 to 13 million visitors per year.

As such, the police authority allows and monitors a limited number of "regulated" brothels in certain places, like Geylang and a certain street in Chinatown, whereby the working ladies in such establishments are required to undergo periodic health checks and must carry a health checkup card.

Despite the modern city state's seemingly draconian measures, many so-called health centres, traditional rub joints, karaoke pubs and nightclubs, and social escort agencies in Singapore often offered "disguised" services by "private negotiations".

Also, popular entertainment places like Orchard Towers and Duxton Hill are in reality norturnal hotbeds for "red light" activities, which naturally make them regular targets for anti-vice raids by the men in blue.

In contrast, prostitution is illegal in this big country, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

As mentioned in the news report, the local authorities are tightening up the screw on more than 29,200 service businesses, which include:

- 28 discos;
- 468 karaoke parlours;
- 943 restaurants;
- 17,700 hotels;
- 143 massage parlours;
- 805 barbershops with female staff;

with the longer-term objective to get them to clean up their acts, in a manner of speaking.

More interestingly, the city has a 'Social Evils Prevention Division', which has recently identified 54 major streets that have the most service businesses, as mentioned above. Besides prostitution, "social evils" here refer to drug abuse and homosexuality issues.

It will be interesting to know how much of these measures will actually be enforced on the streets at the end of the day.

HOW MANY FOREIGN TOURISTS HAVE NOT COME BACK TO VIETNAM?

2012-02-21T17:30:00.002+08:00

I am intrigued by the following excerpt, under the subheading 'Bad Services', and also by the pertinent question posed at the end, in a local news report:

At the workshop where the findings from the Visa Global Travel Intentions Survey 2011 was released, Lorijon Bacchi, country manager of Visa in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia told her story, as a simple tourist:

“The first time I was in Hanoi, I hired a tour guide. Frankly, I was bored after a day. I told the guide that I had only three days in Hanoi and I wanted to have comfortable and enjoyable days. But it sounded that he could only introduced a model Hanoi to me while I felt a very interesting Hanoi somewhere that I could not touch. The young, well English speaking guy did not know how to explain to me. So I did not hire him anymore and I opened my guide book and wondered in Hanoi alone.”

“In my later trips to Hanoi, I was always eager because I always had a plan to taste cuisines and to shop somewhere. And I discovered all of them by myself.”

Bacchi’s story is not an exception. She still returns to Vietnam, but how many foreign tourists have not come back to Vietnam?

I am well aware of the fact that Vietnam has emerged as one of the top destinations for travellers from Singapore, Thailand, Australia and South Korea, according to the survey

Somehow, I feel that Nguyen Quy Phuong, chief of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s Travel Department, who lamented that his country did not perform sufficient advertising activities internationally, has missed a very important point.

The VNAT organisation, together with all the competent agencies in the country, should make concerted efforts to ensure that every single international tourist coming into the country will get a really good time and memorable experience, so that he or she wants to make a return visit, and also, his or her good word can spread like wild fire back home.

In a nut shell, the beautiful country just needs to buckle up quickly to improve the overall customer service level of the people in the hospitality trade, and to deal expeditiously with all those perennial problems already raised by former visiting tourists.

Sad to say, VNAT should realise that it is the BAD ATTITUDE of his countrymen in the frontlines that is driving away international tourists.

As a matter of fact, the recent ranting on the net [Huffington Post, to be precise] by the globetrotting American blogger Matt Kepnes is a case in point.

To me, his personal story is fair and objective, and more importantly, he has made a qualification, i.e. he didn't ask readers to skip Vietnam, but has asked readers to find out for themselves.

Surprisingly, so far VNAT has yet to give a prompt and competent response.

[Source: VietnamNet Bridge, 3rd February 2012]

WHICH COUNTRIES OFFER INVESTORS THE BEST GROWTH PROSPECTS IN THE NEXT FEW DECADES?

2012-02-21T16:41:00.002+08:00

The following is a list of the 10 countries with the best prospects for long-term growth. It's based on a report from the HSBC Bank titled "The World in 2050," which forecasts what the economic landscape will look like over the next 40 years.

Some of the economies are already known as economic powerhouses, while others may come as a surprise.

Nonetheless, Vietnam is on the list.

1. Philippines;
2. Ukraine;
3. Peru;
4. India;
5. Bangladesh;
6. Malaysia;
7. Vietnam;
8. Egypt;
9. China;
10. Algeria;

[Source: cnbc.com, 15th February 2012]

CROSS-STITCHING: FROM CHANGING THREADS TO STITCHED EXPRESSION, WITH AN IOTA OF NEEDLEPOINT KNOWHOW, & NOT FORGETTING THE PASSION AT WORK

2012-02-21T15:57:00.001+08:00

At last, the first embroidery project - from changing a multitude of colourful threads to an apt and arty cross-stitched expression, with an iota of needlepoint knowhow, and not forgetting the passion at work - has been completed by my wife.

Instead of using cool water mixed with a mild detergent, she has mixed it with her body-wash lotion, thinking that it would be a milder option.

As a result, the tapestry masterpiece has turned out to be somewhat lightly stained, but the damage, at least to me, is not that bad.

As I see it, the seemingly light and gentle stain across the top portion has appeared "bluish", which would probably equate to the "sky" colour, while the other stain across the bottom portion has appeared "brownish", which would probably equate to the "earth" colour, thus matching the overall backrop of the autumn scenery as depicted in the cross-stitched expression, so to speak.

Nonetheless, I would like to say this is just one of the "stitches" of life, or just a part of life's learning curve.

That's to say, there's a valuable life lesson to be learned:

Follow instructions, and do it right the first time, because action has consequences.

Meanwhile, my wife has already embarked on her second project. Please stay tuned.

MAO ZEDONG'S GUERRILLA TACTICS AS APPLIED BY SIDEWALK EATERIES ON THE STREETS OF HO CHI MINH CITY

2012-02-21T11:23:00.002+08:00

When Singapore's senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew once made a private remark that Vietnamese people were "bright, fast learners", he was actually stating a fact.

I have here an amusing story, which I believe, truly exemplifies that fact.

A foreign visitor once reportedly asked the proprietor of one of those ubiquitous sidewalk eateries on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City as to why the plastic stools and tables were so small.

The guy responded gleefully that small business folks like him were "guerrillas on the run".

When the police would come to raid them, they would very quickly stack up all the tables and stools and run for dear life. Once the police would retreat, they would also very quickly resume business as usual.

It is interesting to note that these so-called "guerrillas on the run" in reality form an integral part of the "underground economy", or better known as the informal trade sector of the city, as they contributes remarkably to the city's economy as well as employment opportunities.

According to a Forbes' news report, Le Dang Doanh, one of the prime architects of the country's economic reforms since 1986, known as "doi moi", once estimated that the private sector accounted for 40% of the country's GDP, and as much as 20% more occurred in the "underground economy".

By the way, one of the insurgency tactics in Mao Zedong's classic strategy playbook on guerrilla warfare [which happens to be mandatory reading for United States' West Point Military Academy candidates] reads as follows:

"The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue."

CROSS-STITCHING IS INDEED SEW-INSPIRING, AS EXQUISITE PATTERNS ARE SEWN TOGETHER BY A NEEDLE & A THREAD, FUELED BY A RESOURCEFUL STATE OF MIND AS WELL AS HEART IN THE HANDS

2012-02-20T21:57:00.007+08:00

The following snapshots capture chronologically the progress of work - almost on a day-by-day basis, from 13th to 20th February - as my wife diligently puts her needlepoint magic on a piece of tapestry fabric, as part of her creative as well as decorative cross-stitching journey.

As I see it, cross-stitching may be a leisure craft practice, but to reach the final stitched outcome, one needs to exercise a little bit of creativity, ingenuity and resourcefulness, and more importantly, harmony of mind, heart and hands, which I would confidently call passion at work.

The woven tapestry, her debut masterpiece, which she has actually embarked on the night of 4th February 2012, is finally completed today.

The completed masterpiece is being gently washed in cool water, using a mild liquid detergent, as advised. I will talk about it in the next post.

[13th February 2011]

[15th February 2012]

[16th February 2012]

[17th February 2012]

[18th February 2012]

[19th February 2012]

[20th February 2012]

WHAT'S FOR LUNCH? THE VIETNAMESE HOTPOT ("lau") WITH BEEF, FISH, FISH-BALLS, PRAWNS & SQUIDS

2012-02-20T17:52:00.003+08:00

Last Sunday, my wife had decided to prepare a typical Vietnamese hotpot ("lau") for lunch at home with our two teenaged boys, plus the house-maid and her visiting hubby.

In Singapore, we call it a "steamboat".

Well, it's basically a communal pot of savoury broth, generally flavoured with ready-made chicken stock, at the centre of the dining table, and diners dunk in all the raw ingredients, while the broth is still simmering hot.

I reckon one of the more distinctive differences from Singapore's steamboat is that, in the Vietnamese hotpot, rice vermicelli is often eaten together with the meal.

Gustatorily speaking, the Vietnamese hotpot also has a natural tendency to be more sourish, attributed probably to the use of tamarind-flavoured broth, especially in the restaurants.

For the home lunch, my wife, with the help of our house-maid, had selected: freshly-cut beef, small wholesome fish, home-made fish balls, wholesome prawns, wholesome squids, mushrooms, bean sprouts, in addition to rice vermicelli and assorted raw vegetables/herbs. They were in fact freshly bought at the wet market early in the morning.

Instead of a propane burner, my wife had used an induction heater.

For dipping sauce, we had a mix of soy sauce and fish sauce with a lot of freshly cut chillies. My wife, our two boys, the house-maid and her hubby liked it hot, really hot. I was the only exception.

In Vietnam, the prevailing hotpot culture entails throwing almost everything from the raw items into the hotpot at once, and then wait for the hotpot to return to boil.

In contrast, the steamboat in Singapore generally moves at a relaxed, leisurely pace, while individual diners just put what they would like to eat into the pot, while enjoying the simmering process.

I reckon a Vietnamese hotpot is truly a yummy way to combine all the rich flavours of all the different raw meat ingredients and assorted raw vegetables/herbs.

The following snapshots had captured our family lunch gathering over a Vietnamese hotpot on Sunday.

TOP EXECUTIVE RECRUITERS AGREE THERE ARE ONLY 3 TRUE JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

2012-02-20T11:18:00.001+08:00

According to George Bradt, Contributor to FORBES:

The only three true job interview questions are:

1. Can you do the job?

2. Will you love the job?

3. Can we tolerate working with you?

That’s it. Those three.

Think back, every question you’ve ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of a deeper in-depth follow-up to one of these three key questions. Each question potentially may be asked using different words, but every question, however it is phrased, is just a variation on one of these topics: Strengths, Motivation, and Fit.

Readers can go to this link at FORBES to read the insightful, but rather extensive, due to hypertexting, though belated, article in its entirety.

WHY YOU SHOULD INVEST IN VIETNAM, from Peter Cohan, FORBES

2012-02-20T10:57:00.001+08:00

"During last week’s visit to Singapore, I met a hedge fund manager who struck me as very smart,...

... he had an interesting thought - Indonesia, which has been thought of as a great place to invest in the last year or so, is passé and the best opportunity in the region for 2012 is to invest is Vietnam...

... In short, there is opportunity to invest in Vietnam’s banks and food and beverage companies. And as Vietnam’s population increasingly moves from the lower to middle class income level, banks and food companies will be there to meet their needs...

... If you are comfortable going against the grain, look for Vietnamese stocks in these industries or buy shares in a Vietnam mutual fund or exchange traded fund. If the hedge fund manager... in Singapore is right, there could be opportunity for you to profit... "

~ Peter Cohan, Contributor to Forbes, who writes from near Boston about startups and political economy;

[Source: Forbes, 'Why You Should Invest in Vietnam', 15th January 2012]

INSPIRING QUOTE FOR MONDAY MORNING

2012-02-20T06:55:00.003+08:00

"... Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary... "

~ Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc.,. [from his memorable Commencement Address at Stanford University, 12th June 2005]

Say Keng's comments:

In a nut shell, always be true to yourself, and just follow your bliss!

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES IN VIETNAM: A BRITISH PERSPECTIVE

2012-02-19T21:43:00.000+08:00

"... The UK government really identifies Vietnam [as] a major emerging market...

... Vietnam is seen as a difficult market to do business by many UK companies because of worries about intellectual property and corruption...

... Vietnam is not bad as they think. I think it is possible to do it. I did it in China...

... Oil and gas, agriculture, construction, finance services come after education as huge potential sectors...

... the ICT (information and communication technology) is at the top... "

~ Douglas Barnes, the new British Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, and director of UK Trade and Investment in Vietnam;

[Source: Vietnam Investment News, 17th February 2012]

CLAY FLOWERS: A SELECTIVE SHOWCASE OF MY WIFE'S ARTISTIC VIRTUOSITY & HANDICRAFT SKILLS ~ Part II

2012-02-19T17:52:00.003+08:00

[continued from the Last Post: Part I]

Here are the close-up snapshots of the individually specific clay flower arrangements, originally on display in the living room of my old home in Jurong West, Singapore, as featured earlier in the first part of this blogpost.

CLAY FLOWERS: A SELECTIVE SHOWCASE OF MY WIFE'S ARTISTIC VIRTUOSITY & HANDICRAFT SKILLS ~ Part I

2012-02-19T17:09:00.003+08:00

Captured in this blogpost, in two parts, are some selected samples of the artificial, air-dried clay flowers, which my wife had skillfully and artfully hand-crafted, while she was living in Singapore [from 2005-2010]. They were on display in the living room of my old home, a five-room HDB flat, in Jurong West, Singapore.

Prior to that, she had studied the delicate art for four months under the personal tutelage of an expert in her homeland, Vietnam.

At that point in time, and for almost a year, and working strictly on her own, she had built up a personal portfolio of some sixty designs, comprising mostly orchids, roses, sunflowers, tulips, in various colours and sizes.

Her original idea in Singapore was to set up a small home-based art studio to share her artistic and handicraft experience with Singaporean lady folks.

Unfortunately, and to her chagrin, she had come to realise that Singaporean damsels - typical city sleekers - didn't have the slightest patience and steadfast diligence to learn, play, experiment and work with their delicate hands in creating artifacts.

Nonetheless, she had managed to sell several of her masterpieces to friends with a fancy for art pieces. Some were given away as house gifts to close friends, while the rest was handed over to her younger sister, now working in Singapore as a fashion designer, especially after we had decided to relocate to Ho Chi Minh City.

In making the clay flowers, she drew most of her inspirations from personal visits to the Singapore Botanical Gardens and the Mandai Orchid Farms. Others were taken from photographs and posters.

The technology in artificial, air-dried, hand-crafted clay flower making actually originates from the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. It has since migrated to Thailand and Vietnam.

In hand-crafting the clay flowers with the aid of an assorted range of clay art tools, smy wife had used the finest imported luna clay from Japan as well as terra clay mixtures from Sawasdeeland a.k.a. Thailand. She had often set them in pottery with simulated soil or attach them to driftwood from Vietnam.

She had spent a lot of time studying popular species of orchids and other flowers, and making the clay flowers as closely authentic and botanically correct as possible.

From my personal observations, constructing the clay flower arrangements had happened to be a very labour-intensive as well as time-consuming process. It would involve several important steps.

Typically, she would first mix the clay with oil paint to give the clay its basic colour e.g. green for leaves.

It is pertinent to point out that the clay is originally white and looks like fine china clay.

Next, she would then flatten the clay and then individually cut and shaps the petal and leaf pieces.

After the pieces had been air-dried for about 24 hours, she would painstakingly paint the pieces to match the fine detail and subtle shading of real flowers.

She would then assemble the various pieces into whole flowers, adding stems made of clay supported by thin floral wires and using adhesives as well as wrap tapes.

Finally, she would place each individually completed flower arrangement into a pottery pot , a piece of driftwood or other decorative container as the base medium.

In reality, these clay flowers do not require the firing or heat curing process like other clay products.

The resultant product is a long lasting decoration, yet still flexible and quite resistant to cracking (but somewhat fragile).

Each completed clay flower has a delicate appearance and looks exactly like the real thing. The "base" medium can often greatly enhance the character of the flower arrangement.

Because of their vibrant colours and exquisite variety, orchids form the majority of her flower arrangements, but she can make several other varieties as well. She can also vary and adjust the sizes of flower arrangements to suit individual requirements.

In fact, from my personal perspective, life-sized arrangements are always stunning in their realism, but many people also enjoy miniature versions, which my wife has also included in her current portfolio.

I have deliberately showcased some of her best works, just to display her artistic virtuosity and handicraft skills.

Although she has stopped indulging in this craft for quite some time, she has not lost her innate ability to create artistically beautiful artifacts with her acute eye and delicate hands, in my personal view.

[to be continued in the second part, where readers can see more close-ups of the individually specific clay flower arrangements on display.]

WHAT MAKES A PHO-TASTIC BREAKFAST?

2012-02-19T14:11:00.007+08:00

The answer to the question is "pho", of course, especially if you had asked any Vietnamese, irrespective of whether he or she is living in Vietnam or outside the country.

In this big country of some ninety million aspiring souls, "pho", as manifested in its numerous physical variations on the streets, is consumed day and night, almost round the clock from breakfast to supper.

Basically, it can come in several choice cuts of beef - steak, fatty flank, lean flank, brisket - available in single-meat options, as well as in mix-and-match combinations with beef balls, soft beefy tendons, chewy honeycomb tripes, and even knuckle bones of the ox, notwithstanding the other chicken and prescetarian options.

Every morning, thousands of Vietnamese folks, including students, will start the day with a piping-hot bowl of 'pho' - the street food that is at the pulsating heart of Vietnam's life.

Having visited Ho Chi Minh City regularly since 2005, and more importantly, having lived here with my wife for the last eighteen months or so, I have come to learn that "pho" is much more than a simple breakfast for folks to start the day; it's the soul of the nation, which is aspiring to be developed with the rest of the world by 2020.

At every sidewalk and street-corner in the city and its suburban neighbourhoods, it's not hard to find one of the world's greatest breakfasts.

You simply look out for a sidewalk parkade packed with many stationary two-wheels, and a heavy cluster of people, young and old, crouching on ankle-high stools and low tables, all plastics, and with all that hot steam and aromatic fog punching the air around the simmering soup cauldons at the make-shift cooking station. These are sure signs of a good place for the national dish of Vietnam.

Interestingly, and statistically, and in fact it comes as a real surprise to me, the consumption of beef in this country is actually outranked many times by that of pork and poultry.

Since 2010, out of the total meat consumption in this country, pork and poultry account for more than 75%, with poultry around 15%, and beef only about 7%.

By the way, I like to share an amusing anecdote as I write this story.

Some time ago, while having a pho-tastic breakfast, so to speak, together with my wife and our gym buddies at a neighbourhood side-walk eatery, one of my buddies just happened to strike a casual conversation with a somewhat elderly diner sitting next to him.

Somehow, the conversation eventually led to the guy making a remark, to the effect that "after so many bowls of rice at home, I like to eat out with a bowl of pho once in a while, for a change."

Straightaway, I could see the momentary cheeky grin on my buddy's face. Obviously, there was a subtle point in the guy's remark. That's to say bluntly, there was a sexual connotation.

Men folks here, with all due respects, and considering the one thousand years of seemingly dogmatic Chinese influences, especially the attendant machismo tendencies, often hold the romantic notion in their heads, while talking about their favourite food, that "rice" is "the wife", whereas "pho" is "the lover" or "the mistress".

That, in a way, as I interpret it, gives a sensible clue as to why men folks here, especially the married ones, often possess the natural propensity to galivant.

To all the folks out there: correct me if I turned out to be wrong.

Nonetheless, the foregoing as well as following snapshots have captured one of my - as well as my wife's and our gym buddies' - favourite "pho" eateries in Ho Chi Minh City, known as Pho Anh, located on Tan Son Nhi Street.

Also, my perennial choice at Pho Anh is always "pho" with soft and chunky, but juicy and succulent, tendons.

THE LIKELY CHANGING STREETSCAPE ACROSS HO CHI MINH CITY & ITS SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS IN THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE

2012-02-18T06:37:00.060+08:00

The writing is on the wall.

I understand, in Ho Chi Minh City and its suburban neigbourhoods, the municipality authorities have a long term plan in place to clear all the ragtag vendors from operating on the sidewalks and street-corners of major streets, in order to ensure smooth pedestrian flow, as well as to prevent all the illegally parked vehicles by customers from causing unnecessary traffic congestion on the streets.

To what extent will these hard-hitting measures be enforced will depend very much on the political will of the administration. One crucial aspect with political ramifications is the financial impact on and economic hardship of all the poor folks, who are living on the edge, and whose livelihood and/or survival, rests completely on the sidewalks and street-corners.

As a matter of fact, I have already observed, on numerous occasions, police officers with pickup trucks and/or vans going around the Tan Quy/Go Dau neighbourhood to confiscate illegally parked vehicles on the streets, and also to warn owners of shopfront units as well as the ragtag street vendors not to obstruct sidewalks and street-corners.

Even the gym and Cafe Paris on Go Dau Street had been warned by the police with regard to illegal parking.

In a nut shell, the envisioned scenario in the not-too-distant future will most likely be casted as follows:

Besides all the usual make-shift eateries, all the small cafe joints operating on the side-walks and street-corners and/or out of the hole-in-the-wall, so to speak, will have to find alternative sites by possibly moving into shop-front units or, in the worst case, relocating elsewhere, like back alleys and/or side streets.

As an example, one of the popular cafe joints operating on a sidewalk off the busy Go Dau Street, as shown in the foregoing snaphot, will shortly become history.

In years to come, all the small cafe joints will be more or less enclosed setups, and most probably, many will be air-conditioned, and thus will lack all the refreshing al fresco street views, as shown in the following snapshots of two apparently newer cafe joints operating on Tan Son Nhi Street.

So, it seems, at least to me, that the rustic but lively sidewalk life of Ho Chi Minh City and its suburban neighbourhoods, which has been a long-standing iconic aspect of Vietnamese street culture, and a vital part of the big city's touristic appeal, will gradually dissipate into oblivion.

Worst still, I can imagine all the wonderful sights, sounds, smells, and other sensory impressions of the environment, plus all the distinctive charm of squatting on angle-high all-plastic stools and low tables with both tettering on the streets, which have made Ho Chi Minh City so unique and memorable as a tourist destination, will be passe to local as well as visiting folks from overseas.

More importantly, I reckon, all the indigenious folks as well as international tourists will have to miss all the low-cost goods and services, for which the traditional ragtag vendors and make-shift eateries on the sidewalks and street-corners have provided for so long, not forgetting the fact that these poor folks have also been substantial contributors to the country's economic engine.

This seemingly sad state of affairs reminds me of what had actually happened to the original Chinatown, with its historic charm, dilapidated buildings and crowded alleys, in Singapore, when over-zealous young urban planners during the seventies had turned the entire somewhat countrified place into a sterile killjoy destination, where international tourists of today most likely go there just for some cheap bargains.

Interestingly, some folks have in fact written in the local newspaper forum not too long ago about Vietnam going along the path of "Singapore style regimentation" while trying to conserve the cultural heritage.

In the end analysis, I believe that this is the heavy price all the ten million or more souls in Ho Chi Minh City will be paying for the so-called urban renewal, in their quest to be a developed nation by 2020, just as what Singapore had gone through earlier, to the chagrin of most old-timer Singaporeans.

[Note: As of June 2009, street vendors had already been banned by the municipal authorities from using the sidewalks of 15 streets in the city centre. Also, only sidewalks of wider than 3 metres can be used for hawking. In the capital city of Hanoi, 62 streets in the city centre had been designated likewise since 2008.]

AMIDST THE LUSH GREENERY & DENSE FOLIAGE IN FRONT OF MY HOME IN HO CHI MINH CITY, EXOTIC FLOWERS ARE EVEN SEEN BLOOMING ON THE TREES!

2012-02-17T17:37:00.002+08:00

LIVING IN VIETNAM: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY

2012-02-17T12:02:00.003+08:00

"... There are some awesome things about Vietnam; the food is fantastic, the beaches are great, the weather is warm, and the prices are pretty sweet too.

There are some things that aren’t so awesome though; personal space doesn’t exist, traffic can be hectic, and there are some pretty dirty spots around town.

However, if there is one thing that truly irritates me more than anything else in this country, it is the fact that people here are never on time... "

~ Max Murta;

[Source: TuoiTreNews, 7th February, 2012]

Say Keng's comments:

I fully concur with his candid comments. Nonetheless, the same timeliness problem had existed, though not so rampant, in Bangkok and Jakarta, where I had worked professionally in the eighties and nineties, respectively.

WHY CARL ROBINSON FROM AUSTRALIA WILL ALWAYS RETURN TO VIETNAM

2012-02-17T11:34:00.003+08:00

"... No place is perfect. But few places in the world are as enticing and exciting as Vietnam. You’ve got to roll with the punches...

... Even Vietnamese have to bargain and they also get ripped off. It’s all part of the game.

Still, as I pointed out in last year’s piece, Vietnamese really do need to improve the quality and friendliness of service in the hospitality industry...

~ Carl Robinson, an American living in Australia, writing to the City Diary of TuoiTreNews;

[Source: TuoiTreNews, 16th February 2012]

A LITTLE BIT OF SWEET INDULGENCE ON THE STREETS OF HO CHI MINH CITY'S SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS

2012-02-16T22:02:00.004+08:00

As I have mentioned before in this weblog, my five years' of professional sojourn in Sawasdeeland a.k.a. Thailand during the eighties had probably given me the sweet tooth. As a result, I have a great affinity for sweet culinary delights.

In fact, as I have already experienced, Vietnam and Thailand, besides sharing the Gulf of Thailand to some extent, certainly share many similarities as far as gastronomy from the standpoint of sweet delicatessen is concerned.

Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City, just like Bangkok, has a wide variety of sweet delicacies on the streets and sidewalks to meet one's palate.

Naturally, in terms of gastronomical adventures, Ho Chi Minh City reminds me of the good old times in Bangkok.

Here are two examples from the streets of Ho Chi Minh City's suburban neighbourhoods during a recent round of chowhunting with my wife and gym buddies.

One is "banh dua". It's actually some sort of sweet glutinous rice cake, mixed with black bean paste believed to be cooked in coconut juice, and then tightly wrapped in dried coconut leaves, in a mummy-like configuration, as shown below.

The other is "banh it la gia". It is a small cake actually, consisting of some sort of smooth gelatinous rice dough, cook with grounded la gia leaves and encased with a chunk of yellow mung bean paste, and then gently wrapped in banana leaf, all in a pyramid configuration, as shown below.

As quick snacks, both are yummy. Both snacks are generally sold by street vendors.

IN HO CHI MINH CITY'S SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS, THE GREASE MONKEY PROVIDES RATHER QUICK & PROMPT SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS ON TWO-WHEELS

2012-02-16T16:46:00.000+08:00

Apparently, in view of the extraordinarily high proliferation of motor-bikes on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City - about 5 million of them, not counting all those circulating in the city from the rural provinces - and also for the very fact that the motor-bike is a vital personal rolling transport vehicle for almost everybody, there are plenty of grease monkey setups at practically every corner of the city's suburban neghbourhoods.

By the way, a grease monkey is just a vernacular term for a mechanic, working on motor-bikes or motor-cars.

In fact, I would even say that it is the most sought-after occupation for most young men with limited education and/or no skills. Any twelve year old can even become one, and all he needs is to undergo an informal apprenticeship of some sort for a number of years under the guidance of an experienced elder in the field.

Besides offering a gamut of jiffy lube services, a grease monkey setup renders whatever technical assistance almost on-the-spot to customers who ride in with their their faulty two-wheels.

I have observed, at first hand on numerous occasions, that most of the grease monkey setups in the suburban neigbourhood provide rather quick and prompt service to customers on two-wheels.

As my wife puts it, quick service means fast cash in the hands.

This morning while travelling from our home along Le Trong Tan Street to Cafe Paris on Go Dau Street, my wife and I suddenly realised that our two-wheels doesn't seem to be running smoothly. We stopped near the junction with Bo Bao Tan Thang Street, and found that the rear tyre had more or less gone bust.

After checking with one of the nearby folks, we learned quickly that the a grease monkey setup would be found just 25 metres away around the corner.

At the small but rather busy 3-man corner setup, and after a cursory checkup by one seemingly senior guy, our motor-bike would need a full replacement tyre for the rear wheel. As immmediate stock was not available, one of the young mechanics rode off on his two-wheels to procure one probably from a nearby wholesaler or dealer.

After about 45 minutes or so, including waiting time for the replacement tyre, we finally rode off happily to our intended destination.

This grease monkey is still in his early teens.

LIKE THE CHINESE CHEONGSAM, THE VIETNAMESE AO DAI SIMILARLY SHOWS VERY LITTLE, BUT PROMISES A LOT!

2012-02-16T11:20:00.000+08:00

[The foregoing pictures are extracted from as well as more pictures can be seen at DTINews]

LIKE SINGAPOREANS, MOST VIETNAMESE FOLKS ALSO BELIEVE IN THE STARS...

2012-02-16T10:41:00.000+08:00

But according to Vu Duc Huynh, a local researcher of Eastern cultural practices, the universe has more than these stars:

"People would do better to pay attention to their acts throughout the year if they want to have 'good luck'. These rituals are just a waste of time and money."

[Source: DTINews, 2nd February 2012]

VIETNAM IS AMONG 12 ASIAN HIGH-GROWTH & NEWLY EMERGING MARKETS

2012-02-13T20:12:00.002+08:00

At a recent conference in London, the UK Trade and Investment Centre has identified business investment opportunities for UK companies - across a number of sectors including buildings and the environment, education, energy health, digital media, and transport - in 12 high-growth and newly-emerging markets in Asia, including Vietnam, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Republic of Korea and Thailand.

VIETNAM: #1 MOST PROMISING FRONTIER MARKET FOR INVESTORS

2012-02-13T16:18:00.001+08:00

According to the latest Bloomberg Markets Magazine Survey, Vietnam had been ranked #1 among 15 most promising frontier markets for investors.

Despite an inflation rate that the IMF expects to be one of the highest among ranked countries between now and 2016, Vietnam came in first in part because of its rapid economic expansion.

The rankings can be read at this link.

[Source: Vietnam Investment Review, 9th February 2012]

A REALLY BAD DINT ON VIETNAM TOURISM

2012-02-13T13:04:00.007+08:00

"... I understand that Vietnam is not as developed as Singapore or Japan. There are also many poor labors earning a living from tourism. However, with a mentality that tourists do not know local prices, and that they only come once, many sellers try to rip off foreigners for as much as they can. But, after being treated this way, who would dare to shop or even come back to Vietnam?...

In my opinion, sellers have been ripping off tourists in Vietnam for a long time... "

~ Gilles B., relating how he was ripped off in Vietnam three years ago on a visit to Tam Coc, Ninh Binh province;

Say Keng's comments:

Interestingly, TuoiTreNews has several other recent news reports of rip-off incidents involving foreign tourists in the country.

'Daylight robbers prey on tourists in Vung Tau';
'Foreign tourists robbed everywhere';
'Tourist ripped off in Halong';
'Foreign tourists still ripped off in Vietnam';

It's really high time that the higher-up authorities take up a draconian stance to deal with the perennial problem.

[Source: City Diary of TuoiTreNews, 12th February 2012]

SHELLFISH GALORE ALBEIT A SMALL ONE ON THE STREETS OF HO CHI MINH CITY'S SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS

2012-02-13T11:24:00.002+08:00

Vietnam is blessed with a long coastline, stretching for almost 3,500 km from north to south of the country. It faces the periphery of the Pacific Ocean.

She has also a vast hinterland that is criss-crossed with rivers and streams, tributaries and deltas, as well as being bounded by the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand at close range.

Henceforth, fish and shellfish, both freshwater and saltwater, are abundantly available.

Most of the fishing industry is concentrated in the southern coastal provinces of the country from Khanh Hoa to Ca Mau.

In the souther coastal region, seafood especially shellfish is not only nutritional food, but also recreational food.

Interestingly, folks in these parts of the country are believed to consume greater quantities of shellfish than the general population.

More interestingly, Vietnam is today a major player in terms of seafood exports in the world market.

For the year 2011, the local seafood industry has garnered US$6.1 billion in export earnings, thus positioning the country as #4 in the world.

Seafood also happens to be my favourite food in this big country. In fact, I have eaten more fish and shellfish in one year, as compared to my entire sixty or more years in Singapore (and partly in Malaysia).

As Japan's inventor extraordinaire with more than 3,000 patents to his credit, Dr Yoshiro Nakamatsu or better known as Dr Nakamats, has often advocated, "fish is very good for the brain".

On a side note: Vietnam has untapped resources of seafood, particularly when it comes to aquaculture. Many large foreign companies from Northern Europe, as well as from Japan and China, are gradually gaining a foothold in the local seafood industry.

With the continuing inflow of global capital and technical expertise, the local seafood industry is likely to grow in leaps and bounds. Targets, for 2012: US$6.5 billion; by 2020: US$10 billion, in export earnings. Current annual seafood production is about 4 million tonnes.

Technically, 'shellfish' is a broad term describing aquatic animals with a shell of some form. It is somewhat misleading, because shellfish are not related to fish in any way, other than simply being animals.

Many varieties of shellfish (crustaceans, in particular) are actually closely related to insects and arachnids.

Nonetheless, as I understood, here are roughly the common categories of shellfish in this country:

- bivalves: green mussels, scallops, clams, oysters;

- cephalopods: squid, octopus, cuttlefish;

- crustaceans: crabs, shrimps, lobsters;

- gastropods: snails, limpets, abalone;

A few days ago, while returning home after gym practice and coffee hangout with our gym buddies, my wife and I stopped by the roadside on Le Trong Tan Street to procure some shellfish on display, as shown in the following snapshots.

My wife eventually bought 5kg of oysters for VND100,000 (incredibly, about S$6/-) for making fish noodles soup for lunch at home.

CROSS-STITCHING NEEDLEPOINT CRAFT IS OSTENSIBLY A LABOUR OF LOVE

2012-02-13T10:22:00.000+08:00

"Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Do what you love to do and make a difference! The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

The foregoing statement is attributed to the late Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs.

The life story of Steve Jobs has always been an inspiration for me, ever since I first read Jeffrey Young's 'Steve Jobs: The Journey is the Reward' during the eighties.

As a matter of fact, the foregoing statement is the first rule, as outlined in an actionable checklist known as his 'Twelve Rules of Success', intended for managers, entrepreneurs and professionals.

I thought it is befitting to use it to epitomise my wife's latest endeavour, a labour of love to be precise, to create a beautiful as well as intricate piece of cross-stitching needlepoint craft, as illustrated here.

As I see her earnestly doing the cross-stitching almost on a daily basis, with protracted hours, which involves only four basic components, namely, fabric, threads, needle and frame, but it is ultimately, her ardent passion, female ingenuity and steadfast resourcefulness, that help her to marshall all the gravitational forces together to create a threadwork masterpiece.

It is not finished yet, but she is making excellent progress. The lady who sold her the cross-stitching equipment told her that it would take about two months to finish one piece of work. It appears that my wife will be able to finish her first piece in less than four weeks.

She is dedicating so much time and effort into her latest passion that I sometimes, jokingly of course, complained that she is spending less time with me at home.

Nonetheless, I also like to concur with my good friend, innovation strategist and accomplished author in Singapore/India, Dilip Mukerjea, who has coined this wonderful statement:

"Love is the only operating system on earth".

Thank you, Steve and Dilip, for your inspirations.

INSPIRING QUOTE FOR MONDAY MORNING

2012-02-13T06:32:00.003+08:00

"What we call chaos is just patterns we haven't recognized. What we call random is just patterns we can't decipher. What we can't understand we call nonsense. What we can't read we call gibberish. There is no free will. There are no variables. There is only the inevitable."

~ Chuck Palahniuk, 52, American novelist and freelance journalist, best known for the award-winning novel 'Fight Club', which was later made into a feature film;

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT THE LUSH GREENERY ON THE FRONT WALL OF MY HOME: CLIMBING VINES WHERE EXOTIC GREEN LEAVES MORPH TO TRULY BRILLIANT COLOURS

2012-02-12T19:35:00.004+08:00

With full credit to my wife, the luxuriant growth as displayed by the upward climbing vines - belonging to a species of flowering vine plants - on the wall next to the front gates of our home in Ho Chi Minh City, particularly with their exotic green leaves morphing to truly brilliant colours, is ostensible in all the snapshots as shown in this blogpost.

As you see, the dense foliage is gradually reaching the railing on the first balcony of our three-storey apartment, which is accessed from my personal library a.k.a private sanctuary.

Welcome to our landscape of nature!

GREETINGS FROM THE TEN O'CLOCK FLOWERS AT MY HOME IN HO CHI MINH CITY

2012-02-11T22:26:00.002+08:00

Every morning, when the clock strikes more or less ten o'clock, these small flowers as shown in all the snapshots of this blogpost will usually open in full bloom. They have been planted around the two large trees on the street-side frontage of my - and my wife's - home in Ho Chi Minh City.

The seemingly exotic flowering plant is known as "hoa muoi gio" in Vietnamese. The botanical name for it is "portulaca grandiflora", which is supposedly native to South America. It is also known as "moss rose".

The small flowers, in multi-coloured blooms, are really pretty to see upon our return from the morning gym practice. Even our immediate neighbour wants to emulate.

Again, full credit goes to my wife.

HOW HSBC BANK SEES VIETNAM'S PROSPECTS

2012-02-11T21:12:00.004+08:00

"... We think 12% [for inflation] is feasible. I think the Government is aiming for the single-digit rate. They can do it, but it is difficult...

... I think it’s very good if you’ve got 12%, and when comparing Vietnam with emerging markets, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, 12% is acceptable. It’s normal to have high inflation in high-growth markets...

... As long as the export growth is continued, the pressure on the dong will be reduced...

... I understand that exports will be difficult to do in 2012 because there may be slowdown in demand... [in] the U.S. and Europe (as Vietnam’s biggest importers)...

... the average labor cost [in China] is going up very sharply. Vietnam has low-cost production advantage. I think it has a lot of opportunities...

... I don’t think that low-interest loan access will become easy. Even inflation is at 12%, I think the best we can hope for is a lending rate of 16-17% for loans in Vietnam dong. So, I would say Vietnamese companies should try and maximize efficiency; they should not borrow too much money. Even 16-17% is expensive."

~ Sumit Dutta, president and CEO of HSBC Bank (Vietnam) Ltd;

[Source: The Saigon Times, 9th February 2012]

CHAOS THEORY & THE TWO-WHEEL TRAFFIC MAYHEM ON THE STREETS OF HO CHI MINH CITY

2012-02-11T19:05:00.005+08:00

First things first. I am not a "chaologist", and neither am I a student of 'Chaos Theory', even though I have a deep fascination for the subject. In fact, I had indeed read science writer James Gleick's early classic, 'Chaos: The Making of a Science' during the nineties.

I had even attended an interesting lecture by Nobel laureate Dr Ilya Progogine at the National University of Singapore, under the auspices of the Lee Kuan Yew's Distinguished Speakers Program, during the mid-nineties. He had talked about "dissipative structures", the brilliant theory of which won him the Nobel Prize, and ideas from his book, 'Order Out of Chaos'.

More importantly, I had also watched - and rewatched several times - the first 'Jurrasic Park' movie (1993), in which one particular scene attracted my fancy very much.

In that memorable scene, a visiting consultant, Dr Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum) was sharing his insights about 'Chaos Theory' to his two new colleagues, Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), who were working for Dr John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), the progenitor of the island theme park.

You can watch that scene in the following movie clip:

[Dr Malcolm certainly had a fabulous way of explaining 'Chaos Theory'. As a matter of fact, the essence of 'Chaos Theory' was manifested in the story plot of the movie: as Dr Malcolm put it, dinosaurs didn't obey set patterns or park schedules. As a result, the park system broke down and the dinosaurs ran amok.]

Chaos Theory
Jurassic Park at MOVIECLIPS.com

So, in a nut shell, I think I do have a rudimentary understanding about 'Chaos Theory'.

As I have understood, 'Chaos Theory' is, in principle as well as in practice, the science of "surprises", which helps us to explain apparent disorder in a very ordered way. It also states that events are not really random, just complex.

Moreover, it teaches us to expect the unexpected.

For me, the real world we are living in is "chaotic" and "unpredictable", and yet there is an underlying order or pattern to it, and our job as shared passengers on Spaceship Earth, as Dr R Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, once called it, is to find it.

That's to say, "unpredictability" is already built into our daily lives.

Take a broad overview of all these seemingly complex systems, natural as well as man-made ones:

our brain states; anatomical functions; entangled clothes in a washing machine; ecosystems; population distribution; aeroplanes in flight turbulence; weather patterns; economic growth and stagnation; financial and/or stock market; spread of vegetation across the continent; migratory patterns of birds; oil and water flows in underground pipes; rioting crowds; organisational networks; and even vehicles running on highways, expressways, and busy streets;

Ostensibly, at least for me, "chaos" seems to be everywhere in this big city, as often seen on the streets practically everyday.

Whenever I am riding on the city streets with my wife on our two-wheels, and while jockeying for positions in the heavy traffic, I am always telling myself that I am an observer as well as an unwitting participant in "chaos" at work in this big city of ten million folks and five million or more motorbikes, not counting motorcars and other vehicles.

At intersections and roundabouts, particularly during peak hours, I often find it fascinating to watch seemingly chaotic multi-directional flows of heavy vehicular traffic gradually navigating and inching their intended ways somewhat disorderedly, and yet still able to move on and away rather quickly through a seemingly ordered manner.

In the end analysis, as I see it, the whole scheme of things for folks here is all about finding order out of disorder in the daily unpleasant hassle of making a living in the big city.

BREAKFAST IN SAIGON: SAVOURING 'BO BIT TET' OR AMERICAN STEAK n EGGS, VIETNAMESE STYLE @HOA DIEM SON ON NGUYEN TRAI STREET

2012-02-10T12:01:00.004+08:00

The office of the Vietnamese immigration authorities is just across the street.

A sizzling hotplate with tender, juicy and succulent beef steak, plus offal meatballs, pate, fried eggs, baguette,
fresh and pickled vegetables.

I am actually not much of a beef eater, at least in Singapore, but beef has unwittingly factored prominently in my daily meals, especially for breakfast, ever since I have relocated to Ho Chi Minh City.

In Ho Chi Minh City, beef features prominently in 'pho bo' (beef noodle soup), 'bun bo hue' (Hue-style spicy beef noodle soup), and 'bo kho' (beef stew, to go with French baguette), which my wife and I consume practically everyday, notwithstanding the other culinary variations involving beef for lunch and/or dinner, e.g. 'bo luc lac' (beef cubes and water-cress salad), 'bo la lot' (beef wrapped in betel leaf), which are also my favourites.

Frankly, I reckon substantially more beef have passed through my body system within one year or more, as compared to all my entire sixty over years living in Singapore. That's a lot of beef!

Interestingly, from the historical standpoint, I have read that it was Genghiz Khan and Kublai Khan, who had probably introduced beef to the Vietnamese people, as the roughshod Mongolians had invaded Vietnam three times during the 13th Century.

One morning, about a few weeks ago, my wife and I had popped into the city centre again, this time, to pick up my passport from the immigration authorities on Nguyen Trai Street [which happens to straddle across District I and District 5 ('Cholon' or better known to Singaporeans as "Chinatown")].

Again, we were early [so as to beat the heavy morning traffic], and my wife quickly made a beeline on our two-wheels to a two-level shophouse eatery, 'Bo Bit Tet Hoa Diem Son', located directly across the street. What a coincidence!

'Bo Bit Tet' is basically the Vietnamese equivalent of America's favourite breakfast meal, popularly known as 'steak n eggs'.

For both of us, the Vietnamese equivalent was served on a sizzling cast-iron hotplate or skillet shaped aptly or more ironically like a cow. On it, you can see an almost chunky beef steak, an offal meat ball, and even a small slab of possibly pig liver pate, surrounded by greasy-looking, seemingly lemon-grass-and garlic-flavoured, hot gravy, plus a sunny-side fried egg, gradually forming a thin-soft crust on the plate.

Frankly, it looked like a pretty heavy lunch meal, because it was accompanied by a French baguette and some fresh as well as pickled vegetables to go.

For the uninitiated, the small loaf of bread is always eaten as if one is eating the famous assam fish head curry in Singapore. That's to say, piece by piece you sop up the hot gravy.

The breakfast was indeed yummy, as the beef steak was really tender, juicy and succulent.

According to my wife, 'Hoa Diem Son' is a popular restaurant chain.

My only adverse reaction during the quick morning visit was that the outlet was somewhat rundown. Tables and chairs were simply strewn into one part of the outlet, on the upper level, which made it very unsightly to patrons. Also, the brown-yellow uniforms on the staff were evidently tardy looking.

One quirky aspect of most restaurants in the city and its many suburban districts which I have observed to date is that, they certainly enjoy the luxury of large landscapes, spacious layout, low-cost labour, and abundant supply of raw materials.

The problem is always the poor mentality and lack of foresightedness of the people owning and running the place, who apparently have the foggiest idea of sustaining and maintaining the place, especially from the aesthetic standpoint, for the longer term.

Nonetheless, for all hungry folks, the principal specialty of Hoa Diem Son is the 'bo tit tet', with a multitude of culinary variations to suit your palate. That's to say, you can also have plain white rice, or fried potato chips, or fresh onion rings to go, just to name a few.

'Bo Bit Tet' may look greasy at first glance, but it is truly yummy.

The front interior view of the eatery.

The cooking station.

The hot gravy was yummy, too! The almost dry hotplate is testimonial.

The tab, pretty reasonable by Singapore's standards.

TRYING OUT THE TAI NGUYEN FITNESS CLUB ON TAY THANH STREET FOR A CHANGE

2012-02-10T07:14:00.004+08:00

My wife and I have been using the body-building gym on Go Dau Street, owned by our gym buddy Tuan, for the last one year or so, considering a slack time of six months or so when we were supervising the construction of our new home.

As his gym is getting rather crowded nowadays, due to its restricted size and layout, and the very fact that it is geared primarily more for body-building, my wife and I have decided to find a new gym for our daily physical exercises. This is despite the fact that Tuan has in recent months added two used elliptical cross-trainers, which - to our chagrin - have been heavily patronised in the morning hours.

We are lucky to have found a new gym, Cau Lac Bo The Hinh Tai Nguyen ('Tai Nguyen Fitness Club') as shown below, located on Tay Thanh Street, halfway between Cafe Paris on Go Dau Street and our home in the Vinh Loc Urban Residential Area.

Layout-wise, it is five to six times larger than Tuan's gym.

Moreover, the range of equipment, mainly imported, is more extensive and varied, especially stationary bikes and treadmills, in addition to elliptical cross-trainers, which we need them the most.

Best of all, during the morning hours, there isn't any big crowd working in the gym. That suits us fine in terms of choice of equipment to use during our visit.

We have already explained our rationale to Tuan. We have later learned from Tuan's wife that the owner of the new gym, which bears his name (Tai Nguyen), has been at one point of time an "apprentice" at Tuan's gym for four years, when he came to the city from one of the rural provinces to seek work.

Reportedly, he has some sort of a lucky break, when someone offers him a stake in a logging business, and another one who has loaned him a suitable place to start his first gym at no costs for the first three months, plus some extra money on loan from his mother-in-law. Today, he owns a total of fifteen gyms.

This seemingly "rags to riches" story is fascinating.

How is it that a young man, fresh from one of the rural provinces, is able to attain business success in the city so early and so quickly, while Tuan, having ran his small business for the last ten years or more, is regrettably still struggling to keep his gym afloat?

Interestingly, physicist Albert Einstein is believed to have made this famous statement: "God does not play dice with the Universe!"

On the other hand, physicist Stephen Hawking is also believed to have said "Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen."

Nonetheless, I am interpreting it this way: God is giving everybody a chance... you must choose your own destiny path. In fact, as I have always advocated, life is making choices.

My sincere apologies for this spur-of-the-moment random musing of mine.

By the way, even though my wife and I are doing our physical exercises in a new gym, we still meet up our old gym buddies at Cafe Paris on Go Dau Street.

HOW ONE AMERICAN FROM TEXAS REMINISCES THE TRAFFIC IN HO CHI MINH CITY

2012-02-09T19:31:00.003+08:00

"... The first thing you will notice about Vietnam's largest and most crowded city is the amount of motorcycles - add in a few crazy car and truck drivers and after a while Saigon feels more like a riot zone! Some of these drivers like playing chicken with you (yes even the motorcycles!). They'll cut you off, honk their horns all day long, and some on bicycles are brave enough to do the same.

There's also plenty of drivers who completely disregard traffic laws like a regular day at the zoo; its complete mayhem out there - but no one takes it personally like they do in the United States.

I apologize if I've given you a negative view of this amazing Vietnamese city so far, but truthfully, the insane traffic actually gives the city lots of energy and vitality; it wouldn't be right without the craziness!

I like to compare traffic in Saigon to a human ant-farm. I recommend that if you do visit Saigon in South Vietnam, take a taxi cab so you don't end up as roadkill... "

[Source: HubPages (undated) of deweyduck: 'Five Amazing Places to Visit in South Vietnam']

Say Keng's comments:

This guy is definitely not exaggerating, but I certainly like his apt analogies.

GOING TO THE TRADITIONAL OUTDOOR WET MARKETS IN HO CHI MINH CITY'S SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS IS AKIN TO FEELING THE VIBRANCY, DYNAMISM & YOUTHFULNESS OF LIFE WITHIN THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE

2012-02-09T14:35:00.005+08:00

I always enjoy my rounds of grocery marketing in the traditional outdoor wet market with my wife in the Vinh Loc Urban Residential Area.

I am always fascinated by the intoxicating blend of multi-sensory impressions - sights, sounds, smells and tastes. In many ways, there are my memorable reminiscences of Singapore during the fifties and sixties.

As I have mentioned in this weblog before, the wet market is indeed a kaleidoscopic microcosm of this huge country.

Going to the wet market is akin to feeling the vibrancy, dynamism and youthfulness of life within all the common folks that made up the large population, with an open ardent desire to have a better life for themselves as well as for their future generations.

To paraphrase senior stateman Lee Kuan Yew, to "feel the pulse of the ground", although his original quote has had more political connotations.

To most of the folks here, I reckon the traditional outdoor wet market is still the preferred mode of getting ultra-fresh farm produce on a daily basis. Quickly, conveniently and cheaply!

Visually, the entire marketplace looks disorganised, dirty and dilapidated. Once it rains, the rustic landscape can be a muddy mess.

However, and despite the ragtag group of purveyors, comprising mostly women, forever with the cheerful dispositions on their faces, and working relentlessly under the make-shift canvas and wooden sheds, with the hot morning sun hovering above, one can see busy mothers, often with kids tagging along, on two feet as well as on two-wheels converging to browse, haggle and pick their best choices for the morning.

From a cursory horizontal scan, the entire marketplace is seemingly a large bee-hive of hustling and bustling human as well as vehicular activities.

Besides fresh meat, like pork, beef, chicken and duck, there are fresh vegetables of mutitudinous varieties, and assorted fresh fruits of the season on display. One can also get fresh seafood, most of which are still jumping around in your presence. It's is a chef's heaven, so to speak.

As a matter of fact, I often notice that the fishmonger has to watch out for the flying antics of one or two of their more lively fishes.

Interestingly, to all Vietnamese folks, including my wife and our housemaid, I have observed that liveliness and freshness are invariably critical to making choices at the wet market.

More interestingly, there are also assorted cooked food as well as sweet delicacies available for hungry shoppers.

Fresh flowers abound, too.

The sad news: There are numerous ongoing news reports that the traditional outdoor wet markets are gradually giving way to the onslaught of new hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores, from domestic big boys like Saigon Coopmart (the biggest with 57 supermarkets) and Maximark, among others, as well as foreign-invested giant enterprises, like Big C and Circle K.

[According to the latest news, Japan's Aeon Group and Hongkong's Dairy Farms have already set foot on Ho Chi Minh City with their supermarkets. I have read about NTUC from Singapore.

Reportedly, others with an eagle's eye on Vietnam include Carrefour, Tesco and Walmart.

With a fast-growing 90 million people [ten million in Ho Chi Minh City], that's a huge cake! ]

There are also news reports about many merchants abandoning their kiosks and/or ceasing business in large wholesale markets, like An Dong and Binh Tay, as well as traditional central marketplaces, like those in Ba Chieu, Pham Van Hai, Go Vap, Hoang Hoa Tham and Tan Dinh.

At the moment, as confirmed by statistics, modern retail formats still account for just under 20% of the total retail and services trade in the country, which is worth more than US$90 billion.

Nonetheless, the trends are in their favour for the long run, fueled by changing consumer preferences, better household incomes, and massive rapid urbanisation.

Like Singapore of the fifties and sixties, inevitably Vietnam of today has also to go through that metamorphosis of urban renewal.

A QUICK SNAPSHOT OF THE GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE BUREAUCRACY IN VIETNAM

2012-02-09T11:14:00.002+08:00

“... Vietnam’s laws often change so drastically that enterprises barely have time to adjust... ”

“... In contrast, the implementation of legal documents deemed as essential for defining the rights and obligations of enterprises, if any, is sometimes tardy... ”

“... Management agencies rarely comply with the time frame for processing a license application. It takes six months on average and a few years in some cases to assess an investment project application.

In comparison, applications for the establishment of a new company in Singapore are usually processed in about three days... ”

“... State agencies’ interpretation and implementation of laws, both of which leave much to be desired... ”

“... Finally, Vietnam needs to conform to international norms... ” [pertaining to foreign participation in joint ventures...]

~ Dr. Nguyen Quoc Vinh, Tilleke & Gibbins Law Co.;

[Notes: The foregoing does not reflect the view of the above law firm.]

[Source: The Saigon Times, 'Feedback from Investors: Food for Thought', 22nd January 2012]

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF GETTING "ZERO" TWICE IN A FRIENDLY WAGER?

2012-02-09T10:55:00.001+08:00

Whenever Minh joins in our morning cuppa at Cafe Paris after the gym exercise, he will always want all the buddies to play a friendly game of numbers, which I have mentioned earlier.

To recap, each of us will pick up a VND500,000 currency note from a given stack [usually from Linh's wallet], and then work on the printed serial number down to a single digit. Whoevers get the lowest denomination will have to pay for the cafe tab.

Today, both Nhan and Tuan get "zero" each, and so they have to try one more time in the same manner, with a new set of currency notes. Unfortunately, for the second time, Nhan ends up with "zero" again, and so he paid for the cafe tab this morning.

To comfort him, I told him, jokingly, that "double zero" meant that he was ranked - or rather licensed - equally with the world's best known secret agent.

Jokes aside. What are the chances for one to emulate his unlucky strike?

My wife thinks that I seem to have the lucky streak in most instances, and so I am always assigned to pick up the currency notes for her to work on the numbers. So far, my lucky star has been bright. That's to say, our drinks of ca phe sua da are always free, whenever Minh is around.

VIETNAM IS AMONG THE MOST POLLUTED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

2012-02-09T06:58:00.003+08:00

Vietnam is listed amongst the top ten countries with the worst air pollution in the world, according to the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) released during this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.

[Source: DTINews, 7th February 2012]

INTERESTING OBSERVATION: THE VIETNAMESE ARE SUCH A HAPPY RACE OF PEOPLE!

2012-02-09T06:47:00.001+08:00

"... we relaxed at a little local cafe inside the park. It turns out the owner was a family friend... watched all the families smiling as they walked around having fun in the searing sunshine. The Vietnamese are such a happy race of people... "

~ Derek Milroy, visiting his Vietnamese girl friend and family in Long Xuyen City, An Giang Province on the Mekong Delta;

[Source: The Saigon Times, 6th February 2012]

LUSH GREENERY IN FRONT & BEHIND THE FRONT GATES OF MY HOME IN HO CHI MINH CITY

2012-02-08T17:46:00.003+08:00

These selected snapshots capture a slice of the tranquil and serene living at my - and my wife's - home in Ho Chi Minh City, amidst the luxuriant growth of exotic flora and lush greenery, under the intoxicating blend of hot sun and fresh air of the Vinh Loc Urban Residential Area.

As my wife puts it, this is simple luxury in the middle of nature, and we just love it.

HAPPINESS IS CROSS-STITCHING: MY WIFE PROVES IT!

2012-02-08T17:25:00.001+08:00

From my cursory observations, I can see that cross-stitching needlepoint craft is indeed precision work - you need to count the tiny squares accurately - involving tremendous amount of meticulous and painstaking eye-hand coordination.

As a matter of fact, she has gone to the optician to change her reading glasses recently.

Evidently, my wife seems to enjoy very much what she is indulging in, and I can see happiness all written over her face, as she sits quietly on the floor, pursuing her newly found hobby. Sometimes, our housemaid keeps her company by ironing all the clothes next to her, while engaging in woman's talk.

Remember, women are good in multi-tasking!

Anyway, I reckon, as long as my wife is happy, I am happy too.

A TOUGH ROAD AHEAD FOR VIETNAM, according to ERNST & YOUNG

2012-02-08T12:39:00.000+08:00

“... Vietnam may see its GDP growing below the target of 6-6.5% as expected by the Government for this year although inflation is subsiding,.. ”

“The Government faces a potentially hazardous restructuring of SOEs, and shakeout of smaller banks, and tries to remobilize the substantial domestic savings, which were stored in gold and hard currency... ”

“Vietnam’s outlook for faster growth will improve in 2013, when inflation will be below 10% and export growth will be narrowing the current account deficit substantially... ”

~ Ernst & Young's Rapid Growth Markets Forecast;

[Source: The Saigon Times, 3rd February 2012]

VIETNAM IS FEATURED STRATEGICALLY IN INDIA'S 'LOOK EAST' POLICY

2012-02-08T11:39:00.001+08:00

“... India sees Vietnam as holding a strategic position in its Look-East policy, and bilateral economic ties have thrived over the years,... ”

~ Abhay Thakur, Indian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City;

Notes:

“From the level of US$200 million in 2000, the bilateral trade turnover between India and Vietnam has increased twenty-fold to US$3.9 billion last year, which itself showed a year-on-year increase of 42%,” the Indian Consul General said.

[Source: The Saigon Times, 7th February 2012]

DOING BUSINESS & INVESTING IN VIETNAM: A SINGAPOREAN PERSPECTIVE

2012-02-08T11:04:00.001+08:00

“... one must think like the Vietnamese and that the best way to work is “the Vietnamese way” ... Vietnamese people are very flexible and prefer to resolve issues via dialog. For this reason, ... foreign companies entering Vietnam to do business must “sit down with their partners” – they mustn’t be rigid. And sometimes you have to “follow your heart” ... ”

“... The time necessary to acquire a license to carry out a real estate project in Singapore is one year and in China two years, but in Vietnam the required waiting time is four years. Although doing business in Vietnam is never easy, especially for foreigners,... ”

“... Vietnam [is] a market rich in potential with a young, dynamic population. The Vietnamese economy has many growth opportunities... ”

“Though facing economic difficulties, Vietnam will continue to make advances and develop in line with its potential,... ”

~ Yip Hoong Mun, deputy CEO of CapitaLand Vietnam;

[Source: The Saigon Times, 7th February 2012]

HOW TO GEAR UP FOR SUCCESS AS A PROFESSIONAL

2012-02-08T05:47:00.004+08:00

Nido Qubein, a peak performance consultant, international speaker and accomplished author, has written an interesting as well as insightful article - it's extensive - in the latest issue of the ADVANTEdge Newsletter, published by Nightingale-Conant a World Leader in Personal Development Since 1960.

[Nightingale-Conant happens to be one of my sources of inspiration during my early years of exploring the field of accelerated self-growth.]

According to him, there are 10 basic requirements for success as a professional:

1) You must have a solid, marketable idea and the commitment to do whatever it takes to make it work.

2) You must have the skills and expertise to translate that idea into concrete action.

3) You must have a clear vision as to where you want to go — both personally and professionally.

4) You must have a solid plan of action that is based on workable strategies.

5) You must have or be able to create the resources to implement that plan.

6) You must be willing and able to motivate and guide the people who can help you put your plan and ideas into action.

7) You must be able to always see the big picture, yet be willing to get your hands dirty in the day-to-day activities — to become involved in both the macro and micro dimensions of running a successful practice.

8) You must develop the systems that make the right things happen at the right times.

9) You must exercise the disciplines to constantly be doing the right things, at the right times, and in the right ways.

10) You must be able to measure your success in tangible terms and predetermined timetables.

It's worth reading, as it resonates very well with what I have written in an earlier blogpost with regard to action-mindedness. Go and read it in its entirety, and enjoy your assimilation.

IF YOU HAVE A SWEET TOOTH LIKE ME, HO CHI MINH CITY IS ALMOST HEAVEN

2012-02-07T12:03:00.000+08:00

This enterprising lady purveyor is more or less a regular fixture on the junction of Tan Ky Tan Quy Street and Binh Long Street, especially in the morning hours. She retails a phlethora of sweet delicacies that can drive your slurp factor up the scale.

My wife and I are among her regulars. By the way, as far as Ho Chi Minh City is concerned, sweet delicacies are ubiquitous. My favourite, among others: "tang yuan"(湯圓), or almost golf-ball-sized glutinous rice dumplings filled with mung bean paste in a sweetened syrupy soup.

So, in a nut shell, if you have a sweet tooth like me, the city is almost heaven.

Nonetheless, don't be perturbed by the image of tombstones displayed at the back of the purveyor's stall. The junction is located within short walking distance from the city's largest cemetery, known as Binh Hung Hoa Cemetery.

As I have mentioned earlier, the entire place has already be earmarked for massive residential and commercial development.

GO & FLY KITE: REMINISCENCES OF SINGAPORE & MALAYSIA DURING THE 1950'S & 1960'S

2012-02-07T11:09:00.004+08:00

I was born in Singapore and later moved into Malaysia [more precisely, Yong Peng, Johor; at that time, the country was known as "Malaya"; I had finally returned to Singapore in 1965;] with my parents. I was then around 6 to 7 years old. I had received my early schooling there, and subsequently in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

During those years of growing pains, so to speak, I had a jolly good time in flying large kites in the evenings with my third eldest brother, who knew how to assemble and fashion them from thin rice papers, bamboo strips, and cotton threads often used in playing wooden tops.

By the way, the above enterprising two-wheels-based purveyor of kites was spotted in the Vinh Loc Urban Residential Area, on the way to the wet market.

REPORT CARD ON VIETNAM'S MINISTERIAL EFFECTIVENESS

2012-02-07T07:08:00.007+08:00

From a survey conducted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), measuring the "effectiveness" of 14 government ministries in the country, whose functions are related to regulating businesses and trading activities,

interestingly, all of them score just above the “average” rate.

This means that none of them received “weak” or “poor” rates, but they didn’t attain “good” or “excellent” rates, either.

The 14 ministries include (in order of ranking):

- Ministry of Justice
- Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs
- Ministry of Planning and Investment
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Ministry of Industry and Trade
- Ministry of Sciences and Technologies
- State Bank of Vietnam
- Ministry of Finance
- Ministry of Information and Communications
- Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Tourism
- Ministry of Health
- Ministry of Construction
- Ministry of Transport
- Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

In a nut shell, it goes to show their performance is simply not good enough. They just got to buckle up further.

[Source of Information about Survey Findings: TuoiTreNews, 29th December 2012]

COME TO THINK OF IT, & SAD TO SAY, VIETNAM HAS MORE OR LESS THE SAME DISEASE AS SINGAPORE: EXAM-SMART GRADUATES

2012-02-07T06:32:00.005+08:00

“I learn with the textbooks, and I read the textbooks the lecturers tell me to read. I only learn what is necessary that helps me pass the exams. I myself only must take care about my major... ”

~ Phuong Loan, a second year post-graduate in literature, echoed by twenty other interviewed graduates according to the news report;

[Source: VietnamNet Bridge, 3rd February 2012]

PETRONAS TOWER IN HO CHI MINH CITY

2012-02-06T22:26:00.000+08:00

While visiting the city centre one morning on two-wheels with my wife, I have spotted the Petronas Tower.

The Petronas Tower is located on Nguyen Van Cu Street in District 1, or better known to local folks as "Saigon".

The office building houses the oil and gas exploration companies of Malaysian-Government-owned Petronas [ranked among Fortune Global 500], which has a strong and long partnership - more than two decades - with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam.

VIETNAM: TOP "OFF-THE-BEATEN-PATH" DESTINATION FOR 2012, according to US Tour Operators Association

2012-02-06T19:22:00.000+08:00

When asked to name the top “off-the-beaten-path” or emerging destinations that will gain popularity in 2012, Vietnam was cited most frequently, followed by India, Ecuador and China...

~ from an annual survey of active members of the US Tour Operators Association (USTOA) revealing forecasts and trends for 2012;

[Source: United States Tour Operators Association, 9th January 2012]

PURVEYING PLASTIC KIDDY PLAYTHINGS ON A PUSH-CART OR TRICYCLE ALONG THE STREETS OF HO CHI MINH CITY'S SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS: REMINISCENCES OF SINGAPORE IN THE 1950'S & 1960'S

2012-02-06T15:51:00.004+08:00

Nowadays, you can hardly find these plastic kiddy playthings being sold on the streets of Singapore, but in the good old days during the 1950's and 1960's, they were ubiquitous.

Although the product themes may have changed with the times, the basic configuration remains very much unchanged.

I reckon, in another decade or so, and with massive rapid urbanisation and fast changing consumer tastes, they would probably disappear from the suburban city streets of Vietnam, except may be the rustic rural districts.

They certainly bring back many of my memorable childhood reminiscences along Upper Bukit Timah Road, where I was born.

By the way, the enterprising purveyor captured in the foregoing snapshots was spotted along Tan Son Nhi Street, while my wife and I were having "pho bo" breakfast at our favourite shopfront/streetside eatery, Pho Anh.

WHY I'LL NEVER RETURN TO VIETNAM, by American blogger Matt Lepnes

2012-02-06T11:15:00.006+08:00

Here's an interesting except from globetrotting American blogger Matt Kepnes' blogpost in the Huffington Post:

"Traveling through Southeast Asia, you are frequently asked where you are going. "Everywhere," I tell people. This is my last adventure through the region. Except, I'll be skipping Vietnam. After my experience there in 2007, I'll never go back to that country. Never, ever, ever. A business trip or a girlfriend may force me there in the future but for as long as I can see down the road, I'll never touch down again in that country.

No one ever wants to return to a place where they felt treated poorly. When I was in Vietnam, I was constantly hassled, overcharged, ripped off and mistreated. I never felt welcome...

... I'm not here to make judgments about Vietnam or the Vietnamese. I only have my experience to fall back on. However, the stories and anecdotes I've heard from other people only reinforce that experience and the feelings I have...

... After three weeks in Vietnam, I couldn't get out fast enough and I'll be happy to never go back... "

Nonetheless, he has been kind enough to add a qualification to his blogpost:

"Author's Note: While I had a bad experience in Vietnam, many people have had good experiences. You need to find out for yourself. Learn about the good, the bad, and the ugly to become an informed traveler, and then go experience it for yourself. I'm not advocating anyone skip Vietnam. I'm just saying I have no desire to return."

Interestingly, the VietnamNet Bridge reports some perfunctory comments from Nguyen Manh Cuong, vice chief of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) as well as from Vu The Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Travel Association. You can go to this link to read the news report.

[Source: Huffington Post, 30th January 2012; VietnamNet Bridge, 4th February 2012]

Say Keng's comments:

As a matter of fact, an Australian blogger Tabitha Carvan, living in Vietnam, has posted in DTINews last year about how taxis scams in the country had driven away tourists, who were mostly her guests.

Her parting shot "... And our guests? They all said they enjoyed their stay, and liked Vietnam a lot. But would they return? No, not a single one."

You can read her original blogpost at this link.

Anyway, the problems encountered by tourists in this big but friendly country are not uncommon.

Even modern Singapore has its fair share, though less rampant, but fortunately the Singapore authorities take a very serious stance against unscrupulous taxi drivers as well as conniving shop retailers. The authorities have absolutely no hesitation at all in dealing with the culprits.

A SLICE OF MALE CHAUVINISM IN VIETNAM

2012-02-06T07:08:00.002+08:00

According to Nguyen Thi Minh Tuyet, a sociology lecturer at the Hanoi-based Academy of Journalism and Communication, sexism is obviously represented in elementary school textbooks.

She has arrived at the above conclusion after scrutinizing 487 lessons of 10 Vietnamese language textbooks currently used to teach elementary school students.

According to her, "women are often designated as either teachers or participating in professions that require simple skills in the textbooks whilst men are always depicted doing skilled work or jobs that need good physical health."

Her study demonstrates that "the lessons and their accompanying photo illustrations tend to associate needlework, cleaning, and farming with women while displaying men dominating such skilled occupations as researchers, scientists, soldiers, police officers, sailors, and pilots."

In a nut shell, she insists that "the textbooks seem to create a very clear-cut divide between the two genders: men are looked on as ‘breadwinners’ while women as homemakers."

[Source: TuoiTreNews, 5th February 2012]

Say Keng's comments:

Deep-rooted societal beliefs with their heavy dogmas from Confucian teachings are obviously hard to change. In the first place, sons are still preferred over daughters, because man's predilection for baby boys is still practised today in most Asian societies. Vietnam is no exception.

However, I must concede that times will change, as the country makes further progress in its economic development.

Nonetheless, I feel that the opinion piece by one Brian Webb in DTINews of 3rd Sepetember 2011 pertaining to 'economic development, woman's equality, and the Vietnamese family dilemma' is worth reading.

INSPIRING QUOTE FOR MONDAY MORNING

2012-02-06T06:30:00.001+08:00

"Don't learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a prepared ground, but let them be bona fide falls in the rough and tumble of the world."

~ Samuel Butler (1835–1902), British author;

THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF TET: GOOD FOOD & NICE WINE, BUT NO KARAOKE... WHO CARES, AS LONG AS WE HAVE FUN & LAUGHTER TOGETHER

2012-02-05T17:44:00.004+08:00

As I have mentioned earlier, gym buddy Minh was supposed to throw the next luncheon, but Nhan has jumped the gun by inviting all of us [yours truly and my wife, gym buddies: Anh, Chuc and his wife, plus daughter, Nga, Linh, Minh and his wife, Mao, Tuan and his wife] to a nice luncheon yesterday morning at the Tu Tri Restaurant on Nguyen Suy Street, a short distance away from our regular morning haunt, Cafe Paris.

The restaurant is part of a large chain, and its specialties are apparently barbequed meats and hotpots.

In fact, we have been here before, in the evening with more or less the same jovial bunch, and I have actually covered it in one of my earliest blogposts.

Since the weather has been relatively cool this morning around 11.30pm, we have taken a dining table right under the morning sun, but fortunately it has been shaded by a few surrounding tall trees with a lot of big leaves.

The yummy food, in order of appearance, as shown in the following snapshots include:

crispy sesame-seed-flavoured rice crackers; do-it-yourself-chargrilled meats with greens; spicy grilled prawns on bamboo skewers; fried beehoon with seafood; grilled ladyfingers; do-it-yourself hotpot with pork hocks, plus mee, ho fun, tofu, bamboo shoots, a lot of greens, to go in a savoury and spicy soup, and freshly-cut fruits;

Naturally, a free flow of Heineken beer and French (Malesen) wine has been part and parcel of the luncheon.

For me, my - as well as my wife's - favourite drink in a restaurant is always the ever-refreshing soda chanh.

I have found it rather strange that the men folks here have this quirky habit of drinking beer mixed with French wine.

Unfortunately, karaoke facility is not part of the restaurant setup, and so all the eager crooners have to spend their time telling stories and sharing jokes, and cajoling each other, to enliven the gathering.

It goes without saying that the usual fun and laughter among bosum buddies have helped to fuel the camaraderie.

Interestingly, Mao has intended to knock off early, under the pretext that his "exit permit" has expired. Minh quickly rings up his wife, who apparently insists that Mao can hang out with us till night comes.

Anyway, by 2.30pm, all of us have decided to call it a day.

With so much eating and drinking during this festive season, maintaining the waistline is becoming a big problem, even with a regular physical exercise regime.

The host of the luncheon, gym buddy Nhan.

Gym buddy Linh.

Gym buddy Mao.

Gym buddy Minh and his wife.

Crispy sesame-seed-flavoured rice crackers.

Marinated meats, mainly beef and pork, waiting to be grilled.

This is a do-it-yourself chargrill.

Chuc's daughter, Nga, and gym buddies Mao, Anh and Tuan.

Wokfried vegetarian beehoon with seafood.

Mo-Hi-Ba! Yo!

Spicy grilled prawns on bamboo skewers.

Ingredients for the do-it-yourself hotpot: mee, kwayteow, bamboo shoots and assorted greens.

Grilled ladyfingers.

This is the do-it-yourself hotpot with pork hocks, waiting for the spicy and savoury broth to reach boiling point.

Gym boss Tuan and his wife (both dressed in yellow).

Gym buddy Chuc and his wife.

The tab.