Day 3 - 12 Jun (Sunday)

THOUSAND YEAR OLD TRADITION -The Water Puppet Show

Photos and Write-up by Coffee Group (Melvin, Kai Zhi, Kerthana, Lexsana, Sinnie and Wei Zhen)

Tradition is a beautiful virtue in our life. No matter what race or heritage you may come from you definitely have your very own traditional culture that exhibits a timeless charm. And such is the charm of Vietnam’s water puppetry that amazes audiences all over the world. This traditional performing art was performed by the farmers thousand of years ago and this performing art has survived the test of time to be hailed as one of Vietnam’s heritage. Traditionally the show was held at a bank of a river, with a screen as the background. And from behind that screen, the puppeteers will control the puppets gliding gracefully on the bank of water accompanied by traditional Vietnamese music. These puppets perform tricks that will take your breath away. This perfect combination of movements, skills and music was originally performed as traditionally source of entertainment for the Vietnamese farmers. The Water Puppet shows were anecdotes of the farmers’ daily life. It is possible that the impact of colonial rule and the Vietnam War, which were significant historical events, were also reflected through the Water Puppet shows.

 

FAQ - Part 1

FAQ - Part II

 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 

(A session with the puppeteers)

Question : How long does it take for the members to master this art? And do you think this art will last in Vietnam?

Puppeteers: It all depends on the level of interest and passion you have in this art. The more interest there is, the faster you can master the art. Both the older generation and the younger generation generally takes 5 years to master the skills….. Yes! Of course! It would (last) because the art has been going for a 1000 years already and I still believe that art will last as the younger generation have the ‘interest’ in the art.

Question: What makes this art so interesting?

Puppeteers : The art is unique, in the sense that nobody really knows the method and the tactics used to make the puppet show comes alive and the water puppet show is only show of its kind in the world.

CYCLE OF LIFE – Of a Mangrove Tree

Photos and Write-up by Bamboo group (Mahirah , Hanis , Huda, Liping , Dayang)

It was a fascinating journey for us, exploring Can Gio district mangrove forest. The weather was perfect for us with ample sunshine for us to take a boat ride to and discover further about the mangrove forest. Can Gio mangrove forest is situated in the tropical region of Southern Vietnam. The weather is hot and humid all year round with lots of sunshine and rain. The mangrove area is a mixture of freshwater and saltwater from the sea. The soil is muddy and  waterlogged and it is known as the Green of Saigon. 

Pencil-like roots, which also known as AERIAL roots. It enables the mangrove tree to take in oxygen during high tide. The tree which has this type of root type is Avicennia.

Another roots that I spotted when I was there was the Knobby roots which also known as KNEED roots. The roots will help to support the tree. The tree is Bruguiera

Giant arching roots which is also known as PROP roots. The roots will help to support the trees and prevent it from falling down. These roots will help to reduce coastal erosion as the prop roots will act as buffers to reduce the wave energy. E.g. The Rhizophora

 

Our journey to the mangrove was one of the most enjoyable experiences we ever had. It was a new experience for us to enter the mangrove forest and we found out that the mangrove area in Can Gio covers a huge area. We learnt how important the mangrove forest is in protecting the coastal area from erosion as well as being the ‘Green Lungs’ of Southern Vietnam.

At the end of the Reforestation Program, we are recieved a Certificates of Participation...

  5 STEPS FOR DUMMIES

on How to plant Mangrove tree  - A Reforestation Project

Photos and Write-up by Mangrove group (Sulaiman, Narahj and Andy)

STEP 1

Our group volunteered to show the stages of mangrove reforestation. The

members are me(Sulaiman), Andy and Narahj. We met with the Can Gio people to teach us how to plant mangroves. We collected our boots first and each

person was given a plastic packet containing 20 seedlings.

STEP 2

Next, when we were entered the plantation area, we had to struggle through the

swampy mud. Some of our boots were stuck deep under the mud and we had to

use our strength to get our boots out of the mud. Although it was a tough for us to

walk through it, but with our determination and strong mindset to keep going, we

managed to go to the plantation area.

  STEP 3

Upon reaching the plantation area, we had to line up in a straight line as in the photo above. All of us had to plant the mangroves in a straight row so that the mangroves will grow in a straight line. And the distance between one seedling to another seedling is around 60cm. when we plant the seedlings it must be 3cm deep.

 STEP 4

When we plant the next seedling we have to move backward so that we know that we are planting in a straight line.

STEP 5

This is how the plantation area looked like before we planted. Beside it, is the aftermath photo of the plantation area! Cool right? We feel blessed that we’ve done something good for the environment. Below is a reflection that we would like to share. 

"Man Vs Wild" mangrove

Is forest management successful in Can Gio?

Yes it is successful as the people are willing to look after the mangrove forest. More than 150 families volunteered to look after the mangrove forest. Each family will take care of 1 to 15 hectares of the forest. They are given incentives too. Each family is given 35 US dollar a year. Although the amount of money is not much but they do it with their heart as it is for the GREEN LUNG of SAIGON. 
KHAM ON (thank you):D

HARD TALK - WITH A WAR VETERAN at Rung Sac Guerilla Base

Photos and Write-up by Yellow Star group (Murni, Mardiana, Claire and Ivy)

Interview with the Vietnam War Veteran, Mr Duc - AUDIO Only 

To the Guerilla Base Camp 

Question: What was the living standard of the marine soldiers during the war?

 
Mr Duc (War Veteran): The living standard of the marine soldiers was extremely difficult because it is totally isolated and far from the city and according to one of the south resident in Vietnam, anyone in the city or from anywhere provides the soldiers with even one kilo of rice will be killed by the law of the south government. With the patience or love of the people (for the country), because we have to fight the enemy, some of the people take even 12 tonnes of rice from the Mekong delta to this place for the soldiers living here. By doing that, by carrying 12 tonnes of rice by boat they have to camouflage very well. In some of the checkpoints, they had to bribe to go through, they have to give rice or any local product. The people living here have to deal with the mosquito and diarrhea because the water here is not very clean and have to suffer a lot of disease.

Question: How did the marine soldiers get water during the war?

 

Mr Duc (War Veteran):  So basically, they have 3 ways to collect the water. First of all, they collect the water directly from the rain.  Another way is they can collect the brackish water from the river. Then they will boil the water. By that way, it’s like making alcohol, water is collect through the steams. And the steam is fresh water and the bottom of the cooker is the salt so that water can be use for drinking and the salt for cooking. But it takes very long to do it that way. By cooking this way, we will only get 30litres of fresh water in 24 hours.

  

Question: How did the guerilla tactics work?

Mr Duc (War Veteran): Tthe determination of the marine soldiers led them to victory. and managed to deflect the Americans' offensive and so the Americans concentrated their attacks on this base. Thousand of American soldiers with advanced weapons killed many marine soldiers living in this base. The soldiers hide among the mangrove to carry out guerilla tactics against the Americans. Sometimes the marine soldiers suffered from shortage of food, so they had to eat young plants in the mangrove and catch the fresh crabs to exchange for rice. But the law made by the president of the south Vietnam government demanded the killing of anyone who gave rice to the marine soldiers but the people living right here they had to fight till the last man standing.

Yellow Star Group Reflection :D

Why do we prefer oral history to the written sources?

For oral history we can know the real feelings of the person, the struggle that the person have been through and also can say that its “first hand information” because when the person was interviewed there is no form of restriction to what the person can speak out  or what he shared about his feelings, which he shared without any hesitation. Thus, the oral source would be more reliable and trustable because written sources might have higher chances of being vetted by someone and also be changed for propaganda purpose.

Day 2 - 11th Jun (Saturday)

DID YOU KNOW.... VIP – VIETNAM INDUSTRIALIZATION PROGRAM

Photos and Write-up by SOYA BEAN group (Jeremy, Eunice , Alvin , Mark And Yu Quan)

Did You Know?

Singapore is the biggest investor in Vietnam

We went to the Singapore Vietnam Industrial Park as we wanted to know why countries invest in other countries. Foreign investments were made to maximize profits for their own country. Such investments create more job opportunities for the people living in that particular country. Due to foreign investments, industries are being set up in the host country and this enable the local people to earn more revenue.

Did You Know?

Vietnam is Asia’s fastest growing economy

The Yakult factory that we visited was 24 000 metre squares. Vietnam has large area of land, which is cheap and can be used for economic expansion of the country. Vietnam attracts foreign investors as it also provides a big market as it has a huge population. Foreign investors that invest in land overseas, like Vietnam, will maximize their profits as compared to building land in their own country, which may be more expensive. As cheap and skilled labour can also be found in Vietnam it becomes affordable for the foreign investors to manage a huge industry.

Did You know?

Vietnam place emphasis on customizing wide variety of products to make them more attractive to its consumers. 


By meeting the changing demands and taste of the people through customization of products, industries in Vietnam increases its profits. The Yakult industry caters only to its local consumers and the production of one flavor of Yakult is to meet the locals’ taste.Vietnam strategies to have a competitive edge to its economy

Hard Life, Happy Children!

Photos and Write-up by Bamboo Group ( Mahirah, Hanis, Huda, Dayang and Liping) 

The kids welcomed us with joy and excitement. Through their performance, the ice was broken and a bond was immediately formed between us and the Vietnamese students. These students have basic education just like us in Singapore. However, they have insufficient classrooms and there was lack of tables and chairs. They had to sit on the floor for their lessons. With more than 300 students in the school, there is only one level of classrooms! Only dim light was available in the classes. The one outdoor court for their physical activities was rather small in size. Despite the lack of facilities in their school, what amazed us was the fact that the students were all very active and happy. We learnt to treasure and appreciate what we have in our own country.

PLAY, LEARN, CONNECT...

 Photos and write-up by Delta Group (Sasikumar, Muhd Asyidiq, Muhd Amirul, Abdul Wafi, Muhd Afiz)

We Played!

We had fun bonding with the Vietnamese students through games like dogs-and-bone and Whacko. At first the Vietnamese students were restless and not attentive as they could not understand us. But we managed to get their attention by demonstrating to them the games and they responded very well. We played many games and the students enjoyed playing with us. The kids were all very active and cheerful. Despite the language barriers, we bonded very well with the Vietnamese students through the games.

We Learnt!

We learnt about the Vietnamese culture by doing the mind maps with the Vietnamese students. My group did a mind map on Singapore’s food culture while the Vietnamese students did on their food culture.  Initially, the Vietnamese students were shy and they were reluctant to take the markers we gave them. We taught them how to create a mind map by starting on our mind map first. We were glad that we could impart some skills to them and that we could engage the young minds. We also learnt about the Vietnamese food culture.

We Connected!

Initially, we had difficulties communicating with the Vietnamese students. But after the introduction and also by playing some games, we were able to communicate with simple Vietnamese phrases and hand gestures. We also got some help from the tour guide, John.

We even learnt the names of the students and remembered them! Through all the ice-breaker games, we built strong bonds with them. One of the Vietnamese children refused to leave one of our Yusoffians when we were departing from the school. This was indeed a true reflection of how well we and the Vietnamese students bonded in a short time period.  

Want to be a Teacher in Can Gio District (Vietnam)?

To attract teachers to teach in the Can Gio district, the Vietnamese government offers 200 metre square of land and a house. Anyone interested?

Day 1 - 10th June (Friday)

SUFFERING AND SURVIVAL - THE CU CHI TUNNELS 

Write up and Videos by Coffee Group: (Melvin, Kaizhi, Kerthana, Lexsana, Wei Zhen & Sinnie…)

[ Air hole Videos ]

During the Vietnam War, when the Vietcong soldiers had to live underground, these soldiers had to find means of breathing underground. Breathing underground was a huge problem for the Vietcong soldiers, especially when the weather is scorching hot and humid, and also because naturally there was just lack of oxygen. But these clever Vietcong soldiers found a way to breathe- through the air holes. Such suffering experienced by the Vietnamese to fight against US, brought out the Nationalist spirit among the Vietnamese.

 “SNIP! And SNAP!” These aren’t the typical sounds effects you would hear in your everyday life. These were the sounds you probably would have heard when these booby traps killed the US soldiers. During the Vietnam War, the Vietcongs designed deadly traps consisting many sharp spikes to kill any US soldiers that fell prey to them unsuspectingly. The result was a gruel end for some Americans. The Vietnamese went to great lengths to design such intelligent traps to eliminate the US soldiers and to gain independence for the homeland and also due to their strong sense of patriotism. 

 [ Underground Tunnel videos 1 ]

 [Underground Tunnel videos 2]

Pitch black! That’s all you will ever see in the Cu Chi Tunnel. The tunnel is about 250km long. I can’t imagine myself as a Vietcong member crawling through these narrow and dark tunnels. Worse was the thought that I would never be able to see the light at the end of the tunnels or breathe fresh air ever again. But to the Vietnamese they were willing to go thorough these tough conditions to achieve the independence of the country. The Americans have bombed and killed Vietnamese for too long. The Vietnamese resistance against the Americans was the price the Vietnamese wanted the Americans to pay for resisting the Vietnamese struggle for independence and achieve communism in the country. The Vietnamese may be simple farmers but they had the resilience and will power that the Americans had never had!

PRICE OF FREEDOM - THE CU CHI TUNNELS

Written by Tuk Tuk Group (Khairi, Mustaqim, Jazli, Amirudy)

Booby Traps build all over Vietnam  

American's Tank Vs Vietcong Booby Traps

Against all odds these Vietcong defeated a Super Power(USA)

The shovel made of recycle bombshell that dug the 250km of Cu Chi tunnel

12 inch by 15 inch Entrance to Cu  Chi Tunnel

The small tunnel shows the struggle of the Vietnamese to achieve freedom from colonial rule or outsider’s control. The Vietnamese sacrificed their time to dig holes in the war grounds, using shovels crafted using bomb fragments. For example, the Vietnamese were willing to live underground, despite the claustrophobic surroundings, lack of air, light source, the danger of being harmed by poisonous insects and shoratge of food supplies to win the war and the tunnel was a method to fight off enemies. The Vietcongs used the tunnels to carry out guerrilla tactics, most notably during nighttime. During the night, when darkness resides in Vietnam, the Vietnamese soldiers would creep out of the tunnels via concealed entrances to kill American soldiers discreetly. This is all due to great nationalistic feelings among the Vietnamese where their love for the country was strong and they wanted to free their country from foreign powers and establish a communist country (Vietnam). But freedom comes at a price. During the Vietnam War, 3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans were killed during the conflict. Would you do the same thing for Singapore’s freedom?

WE HAVE ARRIVED! - HO CHI MINH AIRPORT

 

Greetings from Vietnam... Xin Chao (Hello)

ITINERARY
Day 1 – 10th Jun (Fri)	Day 2 – 11th Jun (Sat)	Day 3 – 12th Jun (Sun)	Day 4 – 13th Jun (Mon)	Day 5 – 14th Jun (Tue)
Hồ Chí Minh City Củ Chi Tunnel	Singapore Vietnam Industrial Park Long Thành School	Cần Giờ reforestation project Mangrove ecosystem Rung Sac Guerrila Base Water Puppet Show	Mỹ Tho  – Mekong Delta Bình Tây Rice Co-operative Thời Sơn islet – Boat Cruise	War Remnant Museum Notre Dame Cathedral Central Post office Bến Thành Market Singapore

GROUPINGS
	NAT GEO TEAM				HISTORY CHANNEL TEAM
GRP	DELTA	SOYA BEAN	BAMBOO	MANGROVE	TUK TUK	COFFEE	YELLOW STAR
*TL	Sasikumar	Eunice Tan	Siti Mahirah	Muhammad Sulaiman	Muhamad Nur Khairi	Melvin Tan	Claire Ang
*MD	Muhd Afiz	Jeremy Koh	Peh Lay Ping	Andy Alfian	Muhd Mustaqim	Lexsana	Siti Mardiana
*IT	Muhd Asyidiq	Alvin Khoo	Nurul Huda	Mohamed Narahj	Amirudy Chen	Wong Kai Zhi	Murni
	Abdul Wafi	Chiam Yu Quan	Dayang Sari		Muhd Jazli	Ho Wei Zhen / Kerthana	Sun Shin
	Muhd Amirul	Mark Sng	Nur Hanis			Sinnie Julie Anne

*TL: Team Leader   MD: Media IC      IT: IT Tools IC