Saturday, April 29, 2006
Of Vietnam and SG...
I was going to post up some pics from my Penang trip... then I realised that they are on this usb thingy which is now in the office. So pics another time!
I did have a very eventful trip in Vietnam.... the Vietnamese people are a lovely bunch... and somehow, I felt safer walking alone there, in comparison to Bangkok. I mentioned this to Nis last night when I met up with her for dinner, and she suggested that it was because the Vietnamese were more 'rural' and much more easy-going... sorta like, not as tainted by the evil tentacles of capitalism as the urbanities in Bangkok (now that's a communist campaign for you!)
I know Vietnam is a communist country and all that... they were having their People's Congress in Hanoi while we were there so there were many flags and what I assume to be banners with some communist message printed on them all over the place. But in this day and age, communism is not as that of the old days... I was not a brilliant political science student so excuse me if I sound very ignorant. Generally, on the whole, when I think Communism, I think of Mao jackets, people all with the same amount of money, provisions, clothing etc... I think of Lenin at the railway station declaring that there'll be bread for everyone. At the most basic level, Communism is about how everyone is equal, to me.
People see China, and they think, oh it's a rising superpower so yeah, they kinda sold out on the whole communist idea and hence can be excused for appearing very capitalistic. But Vietnam on the other hand, and I am very ashamed to admit this, had always given me the impression of an extremely backward developing country where the people are all poor and starving, where they're all strictly following the Communist ways... I wasn't sure how , but I thought that when I saw the Vietnamese people, they would somehow all appear similar, coz they're all equal... something like that. And I expected everyone to be really poor...
How wrong I was... I am really ashamed of myself in this aspect... I'm never gonna look down on another developing country again.
Capitalism was everywhere... every area the eye turns, you see people fighting to make a decent living for themselves, have money to bring home to their families. I observed young people about my age moving around, hanging out, having supper... the same sort of things people my age in SG would do... and while Vietnam is definitely not as rich as SG, they're not that poor either. They have nice cafes, pubs... the roads are pretty even and not as cracked as those in BKK, and definitely cleaner.
Of course I saw the Communist offices... He had pointed them out to me and described them as being sorta like the RCs we have in SG, sorta like Grassroot centres. You can see the photograph of Uncle Ho hanging on the wall of the offices, sorta like the way we hang up photographs of President Nathan and his wife, only that instead of the state crest being up there as well, you have the Communist star in its place.
There were also the officers. They would drive around in small trucks with a speaker system. For obvious reasons, I did not know what exactly they were saying into the microphones but I would see people hurrying to get their scooters and pretend to push them away. The people would pretend that the scooters were very heavy and make a big show of how much effort it was to push them, until the truck rolls out of sight, then the people would go back to their business, leaving the scooters just exactly where they were - sorta like what our drivers do when the traffice police come along. Late at night, the trucks would be out on the streets again - He and I joked that perhaps they were instructing the people to get off into their beds so that the next day they would be refreshed and ready to work and contribute once again to the better good of the nation.
I did the obligatory sight-seeing... didn't get to pay my respect to Ho Chih Minh though coz when I went to visit his dead body, the place was closed. But I did visit some other places and noted how much of the ancient architecture was very Chinese. Vietnam was part of ancient China after all those many years ago. I also went shopping. The district I was in is such that, each particular street does one specific sort of business. For example, on one street every shop there sold toys - that was 'toys street' for you. Where I got a jacket and suit made was basically 'silk street', where reams of silk and silk clothes were sold.
I enjoyed the Vietnamese food. Hanoi spring rolls were totally delicious... I think the fillings were mainly made out of minced meat and black fungus to add that extra crunch. They had a sweet sauce which I think was plum sauce mixed with a little chilli and garlic to accompany the dish - it wasn't as heavygoing as Thai food. Their version of our kway teow is a thinner one and their beef noodles was excellent; the soup was very tasty. Their Western food was pretty good too - I had one of the best steaks ever while there.
On the whole, I enjoyed my Vietnam trip a lot, and I treasured every minute I had there with Him... I would like to visit the country and the friendly people again in the future... Vietnam is really a lovely country.
It is election time now in SG, in case some of you have not noticed. I'm not going to the polls this time coz my area has now been transfered to the Marine Parade GRC. But still I'm keeping tuned into what is going on. After various chats with friends, I've realised that many young people my age are really quite apathetic to all that is happening. They're mainly bemoaning the fact that Polling Day falls on a Saturday so there's no day off work. I'm not judging them, but I do find it a little sad and troubling, their lack of interest in local politics. After all, politics is, whether you like it or not, a huge part of our lives. Whether it's about CPF, getting a good job, those sort of bread-and-butter issues are influenced by politics, and in turn, influence our lives, our standard of living. I mean, imagine Chee Soon Juan getting elected into Parliament! If that happens, I would imagine the Government would tighten their grip and the little bits of freedom which we are enjoying now would disappear.
Of course this does not mean that you should blindly vote for the PAP. I'm also not saying, don't vote for them, but rather I say, if you do vote for them, ask yourself, why? Don't just vote for them coz, oh, they are the ruling party and they're always been in power what! Even if it's coz you want that lift upgrading, at least you'll be voting for a particular reason. It's high time people started thinking more.
The Opposition has improved tremenously and they are fielding better candidates. They are now more serious and organised, save for the SDP of course (I could write an entire essay blasting the SDP but let's save that for another day). Say I was still part of Aljunied GRC, I would take a little time to ponder over my vote. I would examine the Workers' Party (since they're the party contesting Aljunied), their manifesto and their candidates. I do not agree with some aspects of their manifesto but I'll still give them the chance to explain it to me, and then I'll see if it is agreeable to me. I'll look at their candidates, think about whether or not they can take care of my GRC, and represent me in Parliament. Then I'll look at the PAP team for Aljunied. I quite like Sylvia Lim but after James Gomez's blunder, I'll be more cautious about voting for the WP. After all, a candidate who can't even manage paperwork may not be all that good in taking care of me. I don't quite like some of the PAP candidates for AljuniedGeorge Yeo is Minister leading that team and I like him a hell lot coz I believe he has done well with our foreign policy. So I take out my weighing scale and check the pros and cons. I may end up voting for the PAP in the end, but the main thing is, I made sure I exercised my brain and thought carefully about my vote.
And if you're voting, you should too.
I did have a very eventful trip in Vietnam.... the Vietnamese people are a lovely bunch... and somehow, I felt safer walking alone there, in comparison to Bangkok. I mentioned this to Nis last night when I met up with her for dinner, and she suggested that it was because the Vietnamese were more 'rural' and much more easy-going... sorta like, not as tainted by the evil tentacles of capitalism as the urbanities in Bangkok (now that's a communist campaign for you!)
I know Vietnam is a communist country and all that... they were having their People's Congress in Hanoi while we were there so there were many flags and what I assume to be banners with some communist message printed on them all over the place. But in this day and age, communism is not as that of the old days... I was not a brilliant political science student so excuse me if I sound very ignorant. Generally, on the whole, when I think Communism, I think of Mao jackets, people all with the same amount of money, provisions, clothing etc... I think of Lenin at the railway station declaring that there'll be bread for everyone. At the most basic level, Communism is about how everyone is equal, to me.
People see China, and they think, oh it's a rising superpower so yeah, they kinda sold out on the whole communist idea and hence can be excused for appearing very capitalistic. But Vietnam on the other hand, and I am very ashamed to admit this, had always given me the impression of an extremely backward developing country where the people are all poor and starving, where they're all strictly following the Communist ways... I wasn't sure how , but I thought that when I saw the Vietnamese people, they would somehow all appear similar, coz they're all equal... something like that. And I expected everyone to be really poor...
How wrong I was... I am really ashamed of myself in this aspect... I'm never gonna look down on another developing country again.
Capitalism was everywhere... every area the eye turns, you see people fighting to make a decent living for themselves, have money to bring home to their families. I observed young people about my age moving around, hanging out, having supper... the same sort of things people my age in SG would do... and while Vietnam is definitely not as rich as SG, they're not that poor either. They have nice cafes, pubs... the roads are pretty even and not as cracked as those in BKK, and definitely cleaner.
Of course I saw the Communist offices... He had pointed them out to me and described them as being sorta like the RCs we have in SG, sorta like Grassroot centres. You can see the photograph of Uncle Ho hanging on the wall of the offices, sorta like the way we hang up photographs of President Nathan and his wife, only that instead of the state crest being up there as well, you have the Communist star in its place.
There were also the officers. They would drive around in small trucks with a speaker system. For obvious reasons, I did not know what exactly they were saying into the microphones but I would see people hurrying to get their scooters and pretend to push them away. The people would pretend that the scooters were very heavy and make a big show of how much effort it was to push them, until the truck rolls out of sight, then the people would go back to their business, leaving the scooters just exactly where they were - sorta like what our drivers do when the traffice police come along. Late at night, the trucks would be out on the streets again - He and I joked that perhaps they were instructing the people to get off into their beds so that the next day they would be refreshed and ready to work and contribute once again to the better good of the nation.
I did the obligatory sight-seeing... didn't get to pay my respect to Ho Chih Minh though coz when I went to visit his dead body, the place was closed. But I did visit some other places and noted how much of the ancient architecture was very Chinese. Vietnam was part of ancient China after all those many years ago. I also went shopping. The district I was in is such that, each particular street does one specific sort of business. For example, on one street every shop there sold toys - that was 'toys street' for you. Where I got a jacket and suit made was basically 'silk street', where reams of silk and silk clothes were sold.
I enjoyed the Vietnamese food. Hanoi spring rolls were totally delicious... I think the fillings were mainly made out of minced meat and black fungus to add that extra crunch. They had a sweet sauce which I think was plum sauce mixed with a little chilli and garlic to accompany the dish - it wasn't as heavygoing as Thai food. Their version of our kway teow is a thinner one and their beef noodles was excellent; the soup was very tasty. Their Western food was pretty good too - I had one of the best steaks ever while there.
On the whole, I enjoyed my Vietnam trip a lot, and I treasured every minute I had there with Him... I would like to visit the country and the friendly people again in the future... Vietnam is really a lovely country.
It is election time now in SG, in case some of you have not noticed. I'm not going to the polls this time coz my area has now been transfered to the Marine Parade GRC. But still I'm keeping tuned into what is going on. After various chats with friends, I've realised that many young people my age are really quite apathetic to all that is happening. They're mainly bemoaning the fact that Polling Day falls on a Saturday so there's no day off work. I'm not judging them, but I do find it a little sad and troubling, their lack of interest in local politics. After all, politics is, whether you like it or not, a huge part of our lives. Whether it's about CPF, getting a good job, those sort of bread-and-butter issues are influenced by politics, and in turn, influence our lives, our standard of living. I mean, imagine Chee Soon Juan getting elected into Parliament! If that happens, I would imagine the Government would tighten their grip and the little bits of freedom which we are enjoying now would disappear.
Of course this does not mean that you should blindly vote for the PAP. I'm also not saying, don't vote for them, but rather I say, if you do vote for them, ask yourself, why? Don't just vote for them coz, oh, they are the ruling party and they're always been in power what! Even if it's coz you want that lift upgrading, at least you'll be voting for a particular reason. It's high time people started thinking more.
The Opposition has improved tremenously and they are fielding better candidates. They are now more serious and organised, save for the SDP of course (I could write an entire essay blasting the SDP but let's save that for another day). Say I was still part of Aljunied GRC, I would take a little time to ponder over my vote. I would examine the Workers' Party (since they're the party contesting Aljunied), their manifesto and their candidates. I do not agree with some aspects of their manifesto but I'll still give them the chance to explain it to me, and then I'll see if it is agreeable to me. I'll look at their candidates, think about whether or not they can take care of my GRC, and represent me in Parliament. Then I'll look at the PAP team for Aljunied. I quite like Sylvia Lim but after James Gomez's blunder, I'll be more cautious about voting for the WP. After all, a candidate who can't even manage paperwork may not be all that good in taking care of me. I don't quite like some of the PAP candidates for AljuniedGeorge Yeo is Minister leading that team and I like him a hell lot coz I believe he has done well with our foreign policy. So I take out my weighing scale and check the pros and cons. I may end up voting for the PAP in the end, but the main thing is, I made sure I exercised my brain and thought carefully about my vote.
And if you're voting, you should too.
