"Welcome to the city of motorbikes!" This is how one tour guide described Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. And newcomers to this city, formerly known as Saigon, can get overwhelmed by the millions of those who use motorbikes daily! Men, women, young and old, families even, are out on their bikes from morning till night in this very busy main city.
Buses and vehicles are outnumbered and slowed down by these kings and royalty of the road. A newcomer also has to watch out carefully and avoid being hit by one or more while crossing the street!
We witnessed about three minor accidents involving motorbikes during the two days that we spent in Ho Chi Minh. According to a new acquaintance there, accident rates are very high, not surprising because of the millions of motorbikes throughout the busy streets daily.
Ho Chi Minh reminded us of many places back in the Philippines. One area with tall buildings looked like Makati, another reminded us of Cebu City, many others of China Town, Carbon, Colon, or even old Cubao of the 1960s! There was even a Jollibee branch in one corner along a very busy area dominated by motorbikes, of course!
Colonized by the French, many Catholic churches remain in various parts of Ho Chi Minh and other areas of Vietnam. We were able to visit the gothic Notre Dame Basilica which was located close to the colonial Post Office which offered a glimpse of the French legacy in this country.
Within this busy city is a huge public park, with free exercise facilities for all to use, especially the elderly! Students whose schools and universities are nearby, come to the park to do their exercises or just to relax with friends after classes. Vendors are officially not allowed but a number manage to dodge the authorities with their resourceful way of getting their drinks or other food items to customers who visit the park!
Tourists mix and blend in with the locals in many parts of Ho Chi Minh or other parts of Vietnam. During our visit, there were the Westerners, the Americans and Europeans, the Koreans, the Chinese, the ASEAN visitors as well from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, among others.
Vietnam has gone through so many wars , including with the USA. Now, one is told they are waging their economic struggle to catch up with Korea, with Thailand so that per capita income improves for the people of this country.
Many from the rural areas flock to Ho Chi Minh in search of work and better lives. A number end up in riverbanks, as irregular residents and like the rest of their counterparts in Manila, Cebu City and elsewhere in Asia, experience being homeless, unemployed, with low wages and no social services readily available for all.
It may come as a surprise to know that in this socialist country, education, while compulsory, is not free. Parents have to pay for the food served in school for their children. Getting good education is also a dream that young parents have for their children. Those in private schools, with higher tuition fees, have better quality education than those in public schools. This education issue was a major reason why young mothers we interviewed shared that the present Vietnam is not yet the country that they dream will provide well for them and their children. At best, present Vietnam is a country in progress.
Which way is present Vietnam going?
A very superficial, quick look at Ho Chi Minh and other areas outside of this city shows a commercializing Vietnam. Shops and stores offering just about anything one can think of seem to be saturating the present landscape of Ho Chi Minh and nearby areas. Local and global items and services are traded. With conspicuous consumerism and commercialization, we started to wonder where the so-called Vietnamese independent spirit went.
The floating markets are still out, busy as ever, in the vast Mekong River area. Communities are still producing their traditional rice wrapper (which they call rice paper), their pop rice and other delicacies. Farmers are raising their rice (a growing number using fertilizer and other inputs), fruits and vegetables — a small number of carabaos can still be seen as well. Fishermen have their fish, crabs, shrimps, squids, shells and other sea resources out in the market. Snakes and frogs are also still in high demand. What seems evident is that basic food production seems to be no longer for home use or for the commune but for the market. Will Vietnam give way to a full-blown market economy from hereon?
A Vietnamese gave us this advice. "Oh, please try to see more of the other communities outside of the few that you have seen, including Ho Chi Minh. There you may find the spirit of the Vietnamese people, among the tribes, among those in more remote rural areas."
Definitely, one needs more time to get a deeper, wider knowledge of a country and its people. There is so much more to know about Vietnam and our other Asian neighbors and the path each will take for their people, for their society.