Connections Stash

As old friends of mine would have said, stash!

We've been on the streets of Saigon giving out some Connections fliers to tourists. My wife first did it with some of our young student volunteers. It was tough, she said. The common answer was 'we're leaving tomorrow', if any answer was forthcoming at all. I tried it one Sunday morning. I thought it would be pleasant to be able to simply chat with a few backpackers, see where they are going and where they've been, but nay. The first people I approached who were bent over a map on a bench literally recoiled in horror as my lips moved in their direction. I felt dirty. Then, I started to think about it, and of course some random white guy roaming around Saigon striking up conversations would probably be incomprehensible to a SE Asia weary, tout hardened, paranoid backpacker.

Stash, we used to refer to at Uni and on our travels, is basically free stuff or something you can add to your collection. For example, the Island Divers T-shirt we all bought on Koh Phi Phi after completing dive certs was most definitely 'stash'. Hence the picture of my Connections stash.

So the idea behind the stash is to give our students a bit of an identity if they are direct marketing. I am cautious about both T-shirt and hat together, it's pushing the boundary on good taste and it's not really the message behind what we are trying to achieve, stepping away from horribly organised tourism. The T-shirt by itself is quiet smart, so I declared thou shalt not wear ye hat together with thine T-shirt. Tis cheesy.

Are you hard headed? (Part II)

So so busy. I feel wrong without posting, as the numbers slip slowly away, time to get a few back. I want to go back to the article I wrote on helmets some time ago, here.
AIPF (Asia Injury Prevention Foundation) headed by Greig Craft of the USA have recently launched their public awareness campaign on wearing helmets in the city. I was lucky to meet with Greig recently and hopefully I will be helping AIPF in a small role in the future. The ads are on billboards around the city and look like this : visually shocking with clear messages....

The message on the ads reads 'Every year over 12,000 people die on our roads and 30,000 are seriously injured. That means thousands of families are left picking up the pieces. Families tourtured by the loss of a loved one. Crippled by reduced income or the sudden need to care for a relative with permanent brain damage. The sad truth is that most of these cases could have been prevented by simply wearing a helmet. When you think about it, there are no excuses.'

The ads are city wide and also appear on buses. Keep a eye out for them:

See http://www.wear-a-helmet.com/ for more information.

The statistics are truly awful, as Greig mentioned in a 1993 BBC report, 500 children a month are lost in Vietnam due to traffic accidents. The excuses mentioned in the ads above are all too common - 'It ruins my hair', 'They don't look cool' and 'It makes me look stupid'.....of course, ridiculous when considering the effects of a serious traffic accident for everyone involved and the burden on the nation's health service. Here's Greig speaking on the issue:



Another thing that should be stressed is this : 'striking the pavement at ANY speed without a helmet can cause brain damage'. We've all heard of people falling and being knocked unconscious or even dying just from a standing position....sitting on a bike is no different. That stuff the road is made of, that corner of the curb, that stuff is HARD....just try giving yourself a little tappy-tappy on the cranium. Kneel down and butt the curb gently, see if it hurts.

Worse than the Vietnamese are the foreigners themselves who come here and see no need to wear a helmet. We are supposedly from developed countries. These kind of problems are supposed to be limited to developing countries where a 'lack of education' and other commonly banded around phraseology are blamed, but those folks who come over and shun helmets are just proving that they need to be regulated and enforced just like the 'uneducated masses' of Vietnam. People involved in the fight to cut road deaths in the developing world do not use words like 'epidemic' and 'war' lightly, the least representatives of so called developed countries could do is show that they are not willing to become a victim either. Surely as westerners, we have to set an example as a role model for kids - so let them see you are wearing a helmet, and maybe they will be more inclined to put one on.

One of the most popular helmet brands is Protec, made and produced in a Hanoi factory by AIPF. For $25 you can get yourself a nice 'tropical' helmet with leather trim. Read more about the Protec project here.

The government has bought forward the date for the nationwide implementation of helmets. From September the 15th it is required on all highways by law. From December 15th, all streets nationwide.

Resolution 32 was signed on July 15th. Included was the above dates.

Enforcement will also be stepped up on other violations such as drink driving, speeding and running red lights. Penalties will increase substantially. For example, 30 day confiscation of motorbikes will be enacted if drivers commit one of following violations: overloading, using opposite lane or restricted way, swerving, cutting-in, red light running, and disobeying traffic police commands. 90 day confiscation of motorbikes will be imposed in cases of under-aged drivers or unlicensed drivers. Given Vietnamese reliance on the motorbike, these are harsh and severe penalties that should ensure compliance of law - and for foreigners as well.

(source, AIPF newsletter, September 2007).

Cholon

Without wanting to sound like a cliched magazine article, District 5 has a real mix of old, quite old and not old at all. It is true that the 'daily hustle and bustle' exists. For those who know the Chinese, their entrepreneurship within the family is visually obvious as every building is selling something, and inside behind the fluttering flags or bags of rice there's a bank, a clinic, an insurance company or a dentist in operation. Here you can see row after row of open fronted buildings below small apartments.

For the really old stuff, pagodas are the thing. Towards the beginning of Nguyen Trai St (no 802) is Ha Chuong Hai Quan, a 200 year old temple. It's under renovation at the moment.

Number 12 Lao Tu is where you'll find Quan Am, since 1816. It is the home of the Goddess of Mercy. Three adjectives I find noted down in my exercise book are 'decorative', 'active' and 'colorful'. From the outside....

Stepping inside, a large alter dominates the main hall. Step through to the rear of the building and numerous shrines line the walls. Here are some pics from this temple Quan Am, also know as Chua On Lang.

Across the street sits a garden with some lovely fountains......

And some obviously lethal water......

This next one is called Ong Bon. Quiet, with a large concrete courtyard out front.

Perhaps someone could explain to me the relevance of all the little tortoises in the enclosure around the back. Living below this Chinese mural depicting ancient shenanigans, I haven't had the will nor inclination to find out the reason for the little shelled reptiles.

Now to the not so old stuff in D5, An Dong market built in the early 1990's, looks like a Russian train station (in my imagination, never been to Russia).

Now it's on to the very new, Huong Vuong plaza, opened in June 2007.

To cut a long story short, it's got to be the flashiest department store in Ho Chi Minh City to date. There's a modern Singapore style food court on the 4th floor and Vietnam's first California WOW gymnasium, as well as all the fashion labels and brands you'll find in Diamond. Posh stuff, posh prices, but looks good. Seems to be the first place EVER in Vietnam that has been designed with the concept that people need SPACE - nothing more stressful than elbowing your way through a crowd just to get to a bargin bin of undercrackers.

Starting a Ltd Co in Vietnam: How to.

It all began with some wishy-washy ideas about 46.55 full moons ago. Wistfully gazing at one such beaming orb, watching the hair grow on the back of my hand, the possibilities were bouncing off the walls of my cranium. But how to turn ideas into a reality? Well, thankfully the only restriction known to any small business start up, that of cost, is not really an issue here in Vietnam (for westerners lucky enough to come here and earn well above the GDP and therefore enjoy a very low cost of living). Although of course, the business isn't mine. It's my wife's. She is the Managing Director. I am just Sales and Marketing.

Unsurprisingly, paperwork is a big part of the process of getting licensed in Nam. My wife may have prepared all the documents for the marriage certificate, but the business stuff was a step too far. We had a company arrange everything for us. First, you must apply online with the Investment Project Department. Once they reply with an approval of the name and nature of business, then you have the privilege of waiting for a really long time in a unbearably crowded, unorganised and unairconditioned office on Le Thanh Ton. If you're lucky, as my wife was, you'll be asked to come back the next day after an entire afternoons jostling for attention. Apparently, they change the staff every few months at the office to avoid business agents (those helping people to start up) becoming too 'friendly' with the government staff. Our agents 'man' was no longer working there, hence the long wait. When you finally emerge from the bowels of the building, looking like a businessman who just survived a plane crash and subsequent mauling from a leopard before emerging from the jungle, at least clasped in one hand is the legal document that made it all worth it, a business license.

The friendly, pleasant, and customer orientated staff at this delightful office have another network going as well. When they get hold of new business details, they phone up their mates at various newspapers. As by law, a new company must announce itself by way of one of four or five government newspapers, there is some competition as to which rag gets the juicy details. Cue unsolicited phone calls from journos to home and mobile at whatever time of day they feel like, and so the country ticks on.

Now, it's a jolly saunter down to the local police station, whistling 'Always Look On The Bright Side of Life' as you go, double skipping past cheery mechanics as they wave their oily hands in a toothless greeting, nodding approval at screeching schoolchildren, and finally laughing off the twisted ankle from the pothole in the road (better take the motorbike next time). Mr policeman will make a stamp for you. This is very important. You need it to stamp things, so now you can make paperwork too!

After this, get yourself over to the exhilarating tax department and get issued (as if you don't want to) with a tax code. Now dealings are handed over to your local tax center. From here, paperwork is needed to apply and pay tax for the first year, and also the first quarter, totaling 1,800,000 VND. Then, the jovial tax lady pays a visit to your office, just to make sure you're not fibbing, and you really have a company. Best to hide the choccies before she comes over, she likes them she does! Finally you can buy the mythical (but actually real) book of red invoices, the VAT book.

Now, that's all the boring stuff.

Our company is yet to start operating, but is oh so nearly ready.

First, you need an idea. I know! Tourism...let's jump on that gravy train. I know about traveling. I know about backpackers. I know about Vietnam. Makes sense doesn't it? Tourists need something a little different from what's on offer. So first, come up with some ideas and a name. We toyed for a while. I liked 'Kims Tours', but it was already taken (for the slow ones, that was a JOKE). Eventually we went with 'Connections' (Kết Nối). Next, ask a nifty friend to design a logo. I wanted some hands shaking with the Viet Nam flag incorporated into the design. My designer just kind of snorted in an effort to control himself, which was better than laughing in my face, but he used his talent to work with my idea and draw me up our logo.


Next, you need some publicity shots (luckily, the designer is a photographer as well.....)

An office helps, why not use your house. If you buy a fax machine, you officially have an office (I think it's in the dictionary).

Then, you need some business cards. Sounds easy doesn't it?

Then, get a website done. Here's where you can find out what the hell a company does, that is, if they just seems to waffle on in some unofficial blog without ever really saying what they do. http://www.connectionsvietnam.com/ (you are the first to see it and it isn't even out of testing you lucky sods! - so excuse some minor errors for the time being, most of it is done now).

Lastly, get a cheapo sign printed and blu-tac it to the door. Now you are definitely a certified company ready for customers. All you have to do now is find some. Hello? Hellooooooo......?

Trees go up, trees go down.

Efforts are being made to keep the city green, especially in areas where there is a chance to start with a clean slate. Out in D7, a new traffic island has an ornamental lamp post in the middle and is surrounded by newly planted flowers.

This road has a line of young trees planted down the middle.

Good effort, I think to myself. Well, hold your horses, because back in District 1, the trees are coming down. Why? Please let me know.

All down this stretch of Ton Duc Thang some of the trees have been reduced to lonely stumps. I saw them at it on Nguyen Dinh Chieu as well.

Please, please don't take away my oxygen.

Things You Don't Often See (By A. Cynic)

Settling down at a set of lights in Saigon rush hour traffic, I was preparing to tap fingers for two minutes when I spied a pair of cream-clad traffic cops and a couple of young guys they had pulled over. The cops motioned for the bike to be moved up onto the pavement, and they obliged. As one hauled the bike over the kerb, the other took a wander over behind a tree. His actions were highly secretive, only him and all the other bored commuters around me were watching. We knew what was coming, as he took out his wallet, leafed for a while and took out a hundred. He then folded it up into the palm of his hand and emerged from behind the tree. The coppers had their ticket book out and the sidebox from whence they had taken it was wide open. As subtly as he could manage, the hundred was tossed into the box, where we expected it would stay. But nay, followers of justice, the law immediately reached in and handed the offending note back, almost with a look of disgust. The lingering thought in my mind is that the 'honest bobby' was in fact more than aware of the number of prying eyes just behind him. However, I would really love to believe that he does that all the time.

Later that day, someone actually gave way and waved me through. First time ever.

Saigon Raiders - Since 1990

I've always wanted to blog a photo diary of a match day of the Raiders but never got round to it. Every game is an adventure, for many different reasons. Mostly, it's something to look forward at the weekends, a good workout, and some beers with lads after the game.

The Raiders were founded in 1990 and were Scandinavian in origin. Now of course, anyone is welcome. We play in the Saigon International Football League (SIFL - of which I am the chairman of the newly formed league committee) which was inaugurated in 2000, and the 2007-2008 season starts next month. Three other long term expat teams are regulars in the league, that is Olympic Saigon (French), Saigon Saints and Saigon Japan FC. A team of RMIT
students will compete, and Vietnamese teams make up the rest. After the season ends, we have a Cup competition. Raiders also compete in the Viking Cup every year, a tournament played by teams of 'Viking' history - 2005 saw HCMC hosting, 2006 it went to Shanghai, 2007 was in Bali and in 2008 it will move to Hong Kong/Macao. Our team also goes annually to the Manila Nomads tournament, a 6-a-side featuring 32 teams from across Asia.

For now, I have some semi professional pictures to share - certainly not taken by me. It was a rain-soaked evening some time in May when we were invited to play at the military stadium against a team sponsored by the German consulate.

Yes, it was a bit strange posing for the photographer who was up in the stands.

Here we are -- one very happy but soon to be very wet team.

Here are some shots from the game:

Clemens of Germany:

Bjarne of Denmark:

Floyd of Germany:

Thanh of Germany (center) and Khalid of England (right) giving chase...

Henno of South Africa and Backwater Views fame.

And finally, the official portrait of my good self - as I rarely show my face here - take a good look at this one and don't forget me the next time I shove you aside in the market or curse at you in the street.

If you want to play with the Raiders, drop me a line at jon.hoff@saigonraiders.com.