Drugs will kill you

Not my words: 

International Education in Vietnam

Five years ago I wrote English Teaching in Saigon: The Jungle.  In it I mentioned the international schools in the city.

To the vast majority of the foreigners I meet, the cost of sending a child to international school is one of the major headaches of having children here. BIS for example, the biggest and most 'prestigious' (not meaning 'the best') international school, charges a $3000 'registration' fee alone, and is $22,000 for students in Year 12 and Year 13. That's right, TWENTY TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's not including field trips, buses, meals, musical lessons, etc.

Here's a quick comparison of the top international schools and their fees:

School	Registration Fee	Grade One	Grade 12
BIS	$3000	$17000	$22000
ISHCMC	$1000	$15500	$22500
SSIS	$400	$17345	$21355
AIS	$3000	$14500	$18600
RISS	$2000	$12000	$20000
ACG	$3000	$14000	$18000
ISSP	$2000	$12500	$16000
TAS	$1000	$10400	$13000

As you can see, in Vietnam, the costs are fairly similar for all the 'top tier' international and some of the smaller up and coming schools. Is this value for money or market rigging? You might be surprised if I compare these costs with private education elsewhere in the region and even in Europe. 

Singapore: Two of the best private schools in the world

Singapore American School: Fees totaling $15000 before you even get to tuition (for new students). Grade One tuition is  $19500, and Grade 12 $22,000, the same price as both BIS and ISHCMC in Ho Chi Minh City. 

United World College South East Asia: Around $3000 in application fees, a 'development fee' of $5000 for the first year, tuition in Grade One is $20000, Grade 12 $25000. 

Thailand

New International School Bangkok (NIST) - registration/application and other fees up to $10000, tuition in G1 $15000 and G12 $22000.

International School Bangkok (ISB) - registration/application and other fees of $8500, Grade 1 $20,700, Grade 12: $24,500

Malaysia

International School KL (ISKL) - fees around $15000, tuition Grade 1: $18000, Grade 12 $23000.

Even in England, private schools are comparative for the price. For example a private girls school in my home town, Talbot Heath, costs $8000 a year for Year One, and $16500 in senior school. So, cheaper than the international schools in Asia. 

As the article in the new edition of The Word points out, not so many expat families are around at the moment and schools are focusing more and more on the Vietnamese community. BIS has opened BVIS, and CIS is opening BCIS, right across the street from me. The campus is part of the new development called 'Chateau' in Phu My Hung.

These new bilingual schools are mirroring what the pseudo-international schools have been doing for years, but with much better facilities and properly trained staff. 

Many foreigners I know who come here, get married, and then have kids, are often stuck with a stark reality - put your kids in the Vietnamese school system or take them back home for their education.

There is of course the homeschooling option - and thanks to Tyler for pointing out that I had omitted it from my original post (strange because its something I've done a lot of research on too!)  Homeschooling comes with its own obvious challenges but there are people out there doing it here in Vietnam.

Unless you have the qualifications and experience to 'move' into a corporate job that pays for the school fees...or feel comfortable with your child being educated in a Vietnamese school...then its sayonara Vietnam.   

Evening down the Cresent

In a year or so I may have the dilemma of whether to move to District Two or stay in Phu My Hung and make my daughter (and myself) commute for school purposes. I really, really don't want to leave PMH. The thought of having no where 'outside' and green to walk around on our doorstep is depressing.

Sunday night down at the Crescent is silly season - so many people descend on it, and a lot of people who look like 'tourists' to the area. I can tell because they still stare unabashedly at us, a mixed couple with a little girl in tow. I have to stick my hand in front of cameras as they try to take pictures of my daughter. When she was smaller I didn't mind, but now its a no no. Just waiting for the 'Daddy, why are they taking pictures of me?'.... The place is really coming to life and most of the restaurants were jam packed. Pick a time when its not so busy, like a weekday before sunset, its really the best place in Saigon for a long stroll, people watching, and grabbing a bite to eat.

 

Mapletree Phu My Hung

I'm taking a guess that this is the site of the announced mega shopping center costing $100 million which is being erected in District 7, Nguyen Van Linh bouelvard. This is the site of the old 'Wonderland' between Huong Vuong apartments and the golf course, opposite the Cresent Mall.

New megastore?

The shopping complex, covering over 42,000 square meters, will get off ground this year for completion after 18 months to two years of construction, said Hoa. The project will include a seven-story shopping mall with more than 70,000 square meters of floor space and a 20-story office building with more than 100,000 square meters, Hoa said, adding the shopping complex would meet standards for a modern shopping mall in the world.The forthcoming shopping center will also serve as a destination for relaxation and entertainment, and is one of the largest projects undertaken by SCID, Hoa said.

http://www.vca.org.vn/Default.aspx?tabid=163&CategoryID=19&News=2159

http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Home/business/property/22464/

I may of course be wrong, but something is going up here and this is the only prime piece of land left in Phu My Hung to be developed.

That's what we need, ANOTHER shopping center, ANOTHER supermarket, ANOTHER cineplex....

Tropical Storm Pakhar

A few pics from Phu My Hung this morning after Tropical Storm Pakhar spent yesterday afternoon giving us a good thrashing.











More here from Her Daily Digest 

Let's talk about the traffic police, not foreigners

I'm a little bit fed up with the way foreigners are being portrayed in the Vietnamese press when it comes to traffic violations. A while back Tuoi Tre's English online site published this article entitled 'Rouge' Foreigners'.

Thanh Nien quoted Sub Lieutenant Nguyen Luu Trung of the Mui Ne traffic police as saying: “Foreigners in Mui Ne often break traffic laws but it is very difficult to fine them due to the language barrier.” 

Another article published on March 16th by Thanh Nien is called Foreigners get a free ride with the sub heading  'Expatriates who violate traffic laws in Vietnam are let off the hook by the language barrier or small bribes'. 


I think we all know that pretty much everyone can be let off the hook with small bribes. Not just the foreigners  who must make up a tiny tiny percentage of Ho Chi Minh City's population.

Lets talk about this lot instead (Source)

Instead of making out that foreigners not obeying the law are the problem (which is some twisted front page tabloid journalism logic) lets talk about the traffic police themselves. 

Everybody knows what that beige uniform means, and what it stands for, and it would take an almighty shift to change that perception even if there is a few good guys wearing it. 

Personally, I've been stopped well over ten times in the time I've been here. And I've always paid a bribe. Not one ticket. Actually, I was stopped this morning too - yes - a big motivational factor in writing this today. The 'language barrier' argument is something that the press likes to write about and which foreigners utilise, making it impossible for our heroic police officers to just do their job. But there's no language barrier when it comes to numbers. 

An actual ticket (Source)

This morning, it was the policeman who was confused. He stopped me for driving in the wrong lane, and his English was good enough to explain there are three lanes, and I should be driving in the right-hand one. Never mind that 50 meters around the bend where he was hiding  standing that lane ceases to exist. He then tells me, in English, 200,000 VND. I say that I want a ticket. I have a license and registration, so I want a ticket. I think the price is around 50,000 VND and he has to fill out a nice long form. He then starts trying to bargain with me on the price of his ticket (read BRIBE) - "Ok - you - how much money - 100,000 VND". I continue asking for a ticket. So he agrees and goes over to his bike and gets the form out. He's very reluctant to start filling it in, and then keeps asking me how much I am prepared to pay. I ask him 'How much is the ticket'. And this is where the 'language barrier' suddenly kicked in. He no longer understood English! "How...much...is.....ticket" he mumbled like a beginner student in a primary school class, a look of intense confusion on his innocent face. Great acting I have to say. Then he remembered some English again and said happily - 200,000 VND! Eventually I got tired of asking for the ticket, negotiated a 100,000 VND BRIBE, laughed in their faces as they fished around for CHANGE from my 500,000 VND note and gave them the thumbs up for doing such a great job for the people of Vietnam. 


I'm not complaining about being legitimately pulled over. The problem is, that rarely happens. Dangerous driving, speeding, drunk driving? No. 

Hiding on a corner, on a road where the lane disappears in 50 meters, catching people going about their business driving a few inches on the wrong side of some paint on the tarmac, taking their money, and stuffing it in their pockets. Yes. And one of them was smoking on the job. Which they aren't supposed to do. And so it goes, on my 20km journey to work, the police always find nice places to hide, which - yes - they aren't supposed to do either. 

Perhaps if the traffic cops didn't 'play sneaky', then neither would all those naughty foreigners. 

This should explain it

For those suffering from a case of rainy season prediction today after the storm, see below, hope it helps. 

Source